


The Ruined King

by theshippingexpress



Series: Dragon's Song [1]
Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 32,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24208126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshippingexpress/pseuds/theshippingexpress
Summary: Hawkeye is once again moving through Gedonelune, and it looks like their aim is on the heart of the Dragonkin Ruins. It looks like we’ll need the help of the three Reciters to solve this mystery!
Relationships: Felix/Main Character (Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+)
Series: Dragon's Song [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747261
Kudos: 5





	1. The Woman With the Silver Necklace

The oppressive darkness had been cleared away; now, sunlight poured through the trees, casting the forest in a warm glow. You could be forgiven for thinking it was a different place all together. But the tower, a familiar sight to all in Gedonelune, still remained, forever hovering in the distance.

Shu and I had just finished our duties for the day, so I thought it would be nice to go for a stroll before we met the others.

'So much has happened over these years,' I thought. I giggled as I heard Shu chirping just ahead of me, basking in the sunlight. Who would've thought a clumsy wizardess like me would end up here, walking through the once frightening forest with my dragon?

Someone caught my eye. A woman stood on the path ahead of me, gazing up at the tower. She was dressed all in black, but a silver gem glimmered around her neck.

"Ma'm," I called out, "are you lost?"

Her gaze fixed on me. "You're the girl with the dragon.”

"Have we met before?" I didn't recognize her face.

"No, of course not. But you knew a friend of mine; you.. and that wretched golden boy," she said, drawing closer to me, "destroyed him."

I took a step back. Golden boy? And who was this friend she was talking about? "What are you talking about?"

With a wave of her hand, I was flung back. Pale magic crackled in her hand as she approached me, never losing her smile.

"I thought you might cause problems for us again. So now, I need for you to get out of our way!"

Her magic swept towards me-

'I have to do something!'

-And suddenly, he was before me, a black shield rising before us.

"Felix.." What was he doing here? Was he saving me?

"Pay attention," he said, keeping his gaze on the woman.

"Right!" Now wasn't the time to get distracted; I whipped out my wand. She sent another wave of magic at us, but I was ready this time. "Saggita Lumen!" Felix's dark magic joined mine, aiming for her-

But the woman smoothly dodged, as graceful as if she was dancing. Where had I seen that before?

She never took her eyes off of him. "Who are you? Your magic is.."

"Stay away," he said, raising his hand again.

"You are.." Her smile sent shivers down my spine. "This may be a complication." Before I could move, she was gone.

All was still- and then I heard a familiar chirp. Shu flew into my arms. "Mama!"

"I'm okay, Shu, we're okay," I reassured him, petting his scales. "Thank you, Felix."

And only now did I realize I was face to face with Felix. At this distance, his eyes sparkled like jewels. I gulped without meaning to. 'He really is beautiful.'

"I wanted to ask.." I started to say, but he turned away. "Wait..!" And suddenly he was gone, as quick as he came, as though he had never been there at all.

I sighed. 'I guess it was just by chance. Well, whatever. I have other things to focus on.' I looked back to the forest. 'Who was that woman?'

A few hours later, my friends and I gathered in the Night Cafe, but I still couldn't get the incident out of my mind.

"You were attacked?"

"I've already reported the incident to Headmaster Schuyler," I said, settling at the table, "but I wanted to see what you guys thought of it."

"What could they have meant by you and the 'golden boy'?" Caesar said, leaning against the table. "It must have been somebody that you've faced before."

"Then it could have been one of us," Alfonse said. "Golden could be referring to the Goldsteins."

"That's true, but in that case.." I could think of only one person who fit the bill. Elias gave me a hesitant glance; I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"She would've been talking about Drago." Elias and I had faced him before. "But that would make her a member of Hawkeye."

Hawkeye. The memory sent chills down my spine. Drago's death had been a blow to them, but I knew that they were still out there. Former Headmaster Randolph was still out hunting for them.

"But I have to admit, I'm curious, you took her on all alone?" Alfonse asked.

"No. Actually, Felix saved me," I admitted. "He just showed up out of nowhere; I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there."

"Felix saved you?" Zeus was gaping. "Well, I suppose that he does live near the area.."

It still took some getting used to. It hadn't been that long since Lacan's revival, since we had come to a tentative trust with Felix and the three Reciters had been reunited. Now, Felix and Lacan had moved into Liz Village.

“I keep meaning to go and pay them a visit,” Alfonse said cheerfully. “It would be nice to see how they're settling in.”

"Well, you'd know best of us, Hugo," Caesar said with a laugh. "What is it like having three Dragonkins as a neighbor?"

"We tend to keep to ourselves,” Hugo said. “Every time I've looked over, it seems they're hanging over at Willem's.”

"Willem sure seems happier though," Mischa said with a smile.

"Then maybe I should go and visit them this weekend!" I said. "I'd like to thank Felix for helping me anyway, and I can ask him about the incident."

The next morning, Shu and I set out bright and early for Liz Village.

Stepping through the forest, a sea of flowers greeted us. The wind carried the sweet smile of the flowers across the village- and booming voices.

"Go easy on me, will you? I'll never beat you, at this rate!"

Warm laughter, as clear as a bell. "That's the idea!"

"Willem, can you help me out here? He keeps throwing my pieces off!"

"I'll be there in a minute!"

I gathered Shu in my arms, knocking on Willem's door.

A new face answered the door. Long, silver hair falling down his back, curled blue horns, and emerald eyes. Someone I never thought I'd see in person, and here he was.

"Hello, Lacan."

"Oh! It's you!" he said with a warm smile. "I wanted to see you again, Miss..." He stopped, fumbling for words.

I just laughed. A lot had happened then, and we'd only really seen each other in passing. It was understandable he'd forget some things. "My name is-"

"Don't tell me, I know this one!"

I heard a voice from behind him. "For goodness sake, Lacan," Felix said. "Her name is Liz."

My gaze fell on Felix. He was sitting at a table before a sprawling board game; his hood had been pulled back, revealing golden hair and curly horns.

"Right, Liz!" Lacan said cheerily. "I knew that."

Felix rolled his eyes; but when he caught my look, he turned away. "I'm.. going to go help Willem in the kitchen," he said, walking away.

"I wanted to thank you, Liz," Lacan said with a sweet smile. "It's thanks to you and your little dragon friend that I was awakened, and I was able to reunited with my family. So thank you."

I smiled. After so long, the three were finally together again. That made everything worth it. "Not a problem."

"Oh, Liz, you're here!" Willem stepped out of the kitchen.

"I hope you don't mind. I thought I'd stop by and see how you were settling in."

'Now, where did Shu run off?' Walking outside after breakfast, humming drifted through the air. 'That must be his song.'

I followed the trail of his sound to Willem's porch, but something stopped me. Felix was sitting with him, scratching under his chin. He seemed.. relaxed; there was an unusual gentleness in his eyes.

  
  


'Willem always said he loved magical creatures,' I thought. 'It makes sense that he would be drawn to Shu.' I shook my head. 'This looks like a private moment. I should leave him alone.'

He looked up sharply. "Who's there?" He relaxed as he saw me. "Oh, it's you."

Well, I suppose no harm in coming out now. I walked closer to him, scooping up Shu in my arms. "Shu seems to really like you," I told him, petting Shu. He let out small, happy chirps. He seemed to relax around Felix too.

“I knew a Ratatoskr before. I doubt I'll ever forget that song of his.” He stood up, coming over to me. "I came out here to thank him.. and you."

"Huh?"

"Despite everything I tried, I couldn't do much on my own." He faced me, meeting my eyes. "But thanks to the two of you, Lacan came back to us peacefully, and I was reunited with my family." He smiled, giving a small bow. "So thank you."

"O-of course." I blurted out without thinking, "I wanted to help you." Was I just imagining the surprise flickering across his face? But it disappeared. "But.." I had so much that I wanted to ask him, but the words wouldn't come. "Was that the reason that you saved me yesterday? To pay me back."

He tilted his head. "...I'm not sure."

"You wanted to see us?"

The Prefects had been called to the Headmaster's office. But I stopped short as I saw a familiar face standing there.

"Head.." I caught myself quickly, running into the room, "Randolph! What are you doing here?"

"I thought that you were supposed to be in Queensblade," Elias said.

"It's good to see you again," he said with his usual warm smile. "But I'm afraid there's another reason I'm here."

"I called him here," Headmaster Schuyler said. "I thought that he would have more information on the woman who attacked you."

My heart sank. 'If even Randolph had to come here..' Maybe our assumptions weren't that far off after all.

He took out a picture from his pocket. "Tell me, Liz.." When he laid the picture down, I saw an all too familiar face, a silver necklace glinting around her neck, "is this the woman that you saw?"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alfonse: You faced a member of Hawkeye all by yourself? That's so brave of you.

Elias: Well, not just by ourselves. We had our friends helping us.

Alfonse: I can't believe that I missed out on it.

Elias: Don't worry, we handled it. We had lots of adventures like that. There was the Tower of Sorrow, the fairy flower incident.. don't even get me started on the Sol Maiden-

Alfonse: Ah, I can't believe I missed so much!

Elias: Don't worry, we have plenty of time to make up for it.

Alfonse: Next time, 'Hawkeye'.


	2. Hawkeye

"That was her," I said. "I'm sure of it, I recognize that necklace."

"I was afraid of that," Randolph said with a sigh. "She is one of the culprits I've been chasing after, but I lost track of her."

"Then.. you're saying that she was a member of Hawkeye?"

"Yes." He sighed. "I thought I would be able to pursue these on my own, but it appears that we have no choice. They have become a threat even here." He faced us. "I'd like to ask for your help in this case."

The others smiled. "Of course!"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"We'll do our best to help you," I said. "Just tell us what we can do to help."

He relaxed, smiling. "I'm grateful for your help." He took out a folder from his bag, laying it on his desk. "I've been collecting all of the information I could find on Hawkeye here. Everything you need to know is in here."

I could feel hesitant glances from the others. I stepped up to the desk, opening the folder. My heart was in my throat as I flipped through the pages. 'I had no idea there were so many people in Hawkeye.'

"The woman who attacked you was Cordelia Robinson," he said. "Five years ago, she and Drago were students here at the academy. She was an excellent student who excelled in magic, but.. she was found by one of the leaders of Hawkeye; together, she and Drago stole the Fairy's Egg and ran away from the school."

The others came over, flicking through the binder in silence. Even from a glance, I could tell there was quite a bit of information.

'I can't imagine how hard it must have been to find all of this,' I thought.

"Sir, do you have any idea what they're after?" Alfonse asked.

"Do you think they could be trying to revive the Golem again?" Elias asked.

"I don't think they'd try that one again. But if they're coming here..” A strange expression crossed his face. “I have reason to believe that they may be looking at the ruins under and around the academy."

"Are you talking about the Dragonkin Ruins?"

That's right. He had told us before; Hawkeye was made up of the surviving members of the Dragonkin. That had been even before Willem had come to the school, when the Dragonkin had seemed like the stuff of legends.

Then.. who better to ask than a Dragonkin?

"Sir, I think I know some one who could help us," I said. "Actually, I know three of them. Would it be all right if I shared this information with them?"

"Who are you talking about?" Randolph asked gently.

How should I explain this? "The three Dragonkin Reciters," I said. "They've recently been reunited and have been living in our village. I know that.. there have been problems with them," I winced, "but I believe they could help us."

"The Reciters.. I've heard about them. I remember one of them was the one who took my place."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you trust them?" I nodded. "Very well then. If you think they can help us, be my guest."

"Hawkeye?"

A few hours later, I was seated at Willem's kitchen table with him and Lacan; Randolph's binder was laid out before us.

"Yes, we thought that they might be after the Dragonkin Ruins. Do you think you could tell us anything more about them?"

"This is ridiculous." Felix was pacing through Willem's kitchen. "A golem? We would never have built such a thing. A Dragonkin would never have such a desire for violence."

"You did?"

He stopped. A strange expression flickered across his face. "..I know what I've built. What we've built. And I know that Golem wasn't it," he said firmly. "Besides, the three of us were the only survivors of the Dragonkin war."

"He's right," Willem said. "I searched the world for traces of any survivors as soon as I got out. If there had been any, I would have known about them by now."

I thought it had sounded fishy. "Do you think they could have been faking it? Using the name of the Dragonkin to cause a fuss?"

"That seems the most likely case. However, it does seem likely that they have interest in our ruins," Willem said "In that case, I can be your guide."

"I'm going with you too," Felix said, facing us.

"You are?"

"If they're using our name, it's our business," he said. "And if they are a threat, you'll need our power to take them out." There was a darkness to his voice that sent shivers down my spine, reminding me of how he was before.

'But we might need that power to stop Hawkeye.'

"I'll go too!" Lacan said cheerily. "It's been so long since the three of us have been on an adventure together; it'll be just like the old days!"

Willem gave him a gentle smile. "If they're on campus, then I imagine the first ruins they'll be going after will be the ones under the school," he said.

"Then I'll ask Headmaster Schuyler for permission to allow Felix and Lacan into the school," I said. "We can go exploring them tomorrow after classes."

Going on an adventure with the three reciters.. This was sure to be an interesting adventure, that was for sure.

I met them bright and early the next morning; the three Reciters were sitting outside of Willem's house.

"So, Headmaster Schuyler said that you two would be allowed to go on campus," that had been a hard sell, "but you will need to be accompanying me or Willem while you're there. The others have agreed to meet us after class."

"I'd like to speak to Randolph until then," Willem said. "Perhaps we can figure out where Hawkeye is most likely to go."

"Then would it be all right if I go with you, Liz?" Lacan asked with a sweet smile. "Willem's been telling me about the campus, and I'd love to see it for myself."

"Huh? Sure, I guess." It might be fun to show Lacan around the campus.

"Then in that case, I'd like to accompany you as well," Felix said. "Besides, there's no telling if that woman will try and come for you again."

That was a bit of a surprise, but.. "All right, that's fine with me."

As we walked through the campus, Lacan had been full of questions, asking about every little place we stopped by.

'He almost reminds me of when I first came to Gedonelune,' I thought wistfully. 'Everything is so new to him.'

Soon, the four of us settled into the classroom. "I'll be teaching the Night Class for today,” I said, setting down my stuff.

"I thought the Night Class was taught underground?" Felix asked, tilting his head.

"They do for the practical lessons, but this is a more general class."

"How do you know that, Felix?" Lacan asked.

"Because I actually listen when Willem's talking about the academy, instead of falling asleep," Felix said with a sigh.

"I try to! I just always get so drowsy.."

"You nap too much."

"When was the last time you had a good night's rest?” Lacan said with a laugh. Maybe you wouldn't be so cranky." Despite their words, their voices carried no real bite, as though they'd had this argument a thousand times before.

"Felix, you might find it interesting. The Night Class uses dark magic; it's not that different from your magic, I don't think."

The students started to trickle into the classroom, so I turned back to them. "You two can wait in the back with Shu."

"All right. Come along, Shu." Lacan gathered Shu in his arms, walking to the back of the classroom. And even as Felix walked back, I could see his eyes on the students, as though he was wondering who it was.

Occasionally, as I lectured, I glanced back at the two. Lacan sat, Shu in his lap, in rapt attention. Felix may not have been paying quite as much attention, but I still felt his focus on me, especially as the lesson went on.

Finally, the lesson came to an end, and Clive approached me. “Do you need something, Clive?”

“I'm sorry about this, but the Nidhogg wanted to see Felix again."

"That's all right. I think we have some time before the others show up." In a puff of white smoke, the Nidhogg appeared, grinning wildly. Felix grinned as he walked over; the Nidhogg practically flew into his arms.

  
  


"It's so good to see you again! How are you finding living with the humans?"

"Well, I.."

"Is this the Nidhogg?" Lacan said brightly as he walked over, carrying Shu in his arms. "Felix has told me so much about you."

"Who's this?"

"This is my dear friend, Lacan," Felix said with that sweet smile. It reminded me of the smile I'd seen when he was around Shu, like all of the pain and anger had melted away.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched the two of them, happily chatting. "It's hard to believe that's the guy who tried to destroy the world," Clive said idly. "The Nidhogg seems like a little kid around him."

"I wonder what it must have been like when they first met," I said without thinking.

"Oh, that's a great story," Lacan said. "I still remember, he scared the crap out of-"

"Oh, there you are." I heard a knock on the door. Willem entered, shortly followed by the others. Even Hugo had agreed to accompany us. "I hate to break this up, but everyone's ready to go."

"We'll have to talk some more later," Felix said.

"I want to hear all about your new life! You can always come bug me!" the Nidhogg said.

"We should get going too," Clive said, pulling him along.

"After talking with Randolph, I think I've figured out where they're likely to go next.”

"It's nice to have people who know the way to get into these ruins," Caesar said.

"Trust me, I know these ruins like the back of my hand," Willem said with a laugh. "I was searching through them when I.. Well, nevermind."

"Is that what you were doing as a Headmaster?"

"Hmm, you were the Headmaster?" Lacan asked. "That must have been fun."

I couldn't help but laugh as I heard the two of them, but then I felt someone fall in step next to me. I looked up to see Felix at my side.

"You.." His expression went blank again. "You should stay close to me."

"Hmm?"

"That woman was after you," he said. "If she is here in the ruins, it's likely she'll try her luck again."

"But won't she come after Elias too?" I asked.

"Just.. stay close to me."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nidhogg: It's so nice to see Felix again. I hope we get a little more time together.

Clive: That must have been nice.

Nidhogg: I wonder what he'd say if he knew I tried to destroy the world.

Clive: Well, he did too. At least, that's what they tell me.

Nidhogg: What? Well, it must have been a shock that I was reduced to this, albeit adorable, form..

Clive: Didn't he get turned into a plushie or something too?

Nidhogg: What? Well, it's a wonder that he's dateable and I'm not!

Clive: Next time.. ‘Into the Ruins’


	3. Into the Ruins

Emerging through the forest, a decrepit gate and cracked window frames greeted us.

_'It's strange,'_ I thought, _'I must have been here a thousand times before, but it's different now.'_ Different to be visiting it with actual Dragonkins. _'What must this have been like when it was in its prime?'_

I stole a glance over at Felix's face, gazing up at the ruins. Sadness and surprise flashed across his face. "This is.. What has become of us?"

"Felix.."

"..We should get going."

"Can I ask an awkward question?" Lacan's voice broke through the silence as we walked.

"What is it, Lacan?"

"Um.. what are your names? I know Liz, I remember you, and I know Hugo and Mischa, since they've come round for tea. But the rest of you.. I mean, I know that we met before, but it was all kind of a blur back then.”

Oh, right. Just because we knew his story didn't mean that he knew anything about us.

"I.. probably should have asked about that as well,” Felix admitted.

"What? Lacan, I can understand, but you Felix.. You don't even know our names?!"

Felix met Zeus with a blank stare. "..Why would I? You were just pains in my side."

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in introducing ourselves again," Caesar said with a laugh. "I'm Caesar Raphael."

"The loud mouth is Zeus," Hugo said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Ah, I wondered who that was!" Lacan said. “Hugo's always talking about you!” Felix nodded.

"Hey!” Zeus shot a dirty look at Hugo.

One by one, they introduced themselves. "I'm Yukiya; this is Seth."

"I'm Elias Goldstein; Alfonse here is my eldest brother."

"Elias was the other one who defeated Drago," I said.

"Ah, I do know of the Goldsteins," Felix mused.

"..Yeah, you broke into our laboratory," Alfonse said.

Lacan gave him a confused look, but Felix coughed. "..Moving on. What about your merchant friend? The one who had Twilight?"

"Oh, Hisoka?" I wasn't expecting him to remember him. "He's not with us right now; I think that he's in Queensblade right now."

"You certainly have a lot of friends.." Felix muttered. In the back of my mind, he almost sounded wistful.

I shivered as we walked deep into the ruins. I'd been down here in the ruins before, but it never got any less creepy to visit them. As we walked, I noticed that some of the others seemed to be slowing down.

Lucious, Zeus, and Hiro seemed to linger behind us. Shu, on the other hand, was even more lively, chirping happily as he flew behind us.

Even Felix seemed a little unnerved. 'I wonder what this is like for him.'

"So, how do we know Hawkeye will be headed to these ruins?" Caesar asked, trailing behind Willem.

"There are certain treasures that the humans entrusted to us long ago," Willem said. "Though we were sealed away, they should still be buried deep enough that they shouldn't have been found by the humans.”

Caesar sighed. "I wonder if Hawkeye's already gotten there by now. They did get a bit of a headstart on us.”

"Who cares?" Zeus said, grinning from ear to ear. "If they've gotten the jewels or whatever, I'll just summon something big and scary to fight them off! Maybe I'll summon Vulcanaux!"

"You will not!” Zeus jumped as Felix walked up to him, his voice as cold as ice. “If you were to summon a creature like Vulcanaux here, you would bring this place down on top of us. I will not allow you to destroy this sacred place!”

Zeus recoiled as though burnt. "Sorry.."

Felix turned away, walking past him; I hurried after him. I heard the others muttering to Zeus. “Nice going, genius..”

The eeiry feeling continued as we went deeper down the halls. Shu flew ahead of us, happily chirping as we explored the halls.

'It almost feels like.. someone is watching me.' I glanced over my shoulder, but I didn't see anyone. 'I don't know why this place gives me such creeps..'

I looked at the walls. Even if it was growing darker, I could make out intricate carvings on the walls. I was so focused on the walls, I wasn't looking where I was going, and my foot caught on a loose tile-

"Woah!"

And suddenly found strong arms catching me. I looked up into green, green eyes.

"..Watch your step," Felix said, helping me to my feet.

"Right." I stood up, though I couldn't understand why my heart was racing so much.

“I'm sure that we've come down this way before.” Lacan peeked his head down the branching pathway.

“No, I'm sure that that way is connected to the Labyrinth,” Willem said with a sigh.

“Don't ask me, you're the ones who always came down here.”

It was a strange sight, seeing the three powerful Dragonkin bickering over something like directions. But a noise echoed through the halls- a stomach growling.

“..It's probably been a fair few hours since we set out,” Willem said gently. “Perhaps this would be a good time to stop and eat?”

We all took seat around the hall, pulling out our lunches.

"I brought some cookies for everyone!" I said. With the Reciters, our group was larger than normal, so I'd made sure to bake more than usual. I had made little bags for everyone.

"Cookies?" Their expressions lit up as they took the bags.

"Here," I passed out the bags. I pulled Shu close to me. "I've got some treats for you too, Shu." He happily chirped as he nibbled on the treats. I patted his head.

'So adorable..'

I noticed Felix gazing at us curiously. He had seemed to like cookies before when we had been at the Night Cafe together. “Would you like some too, Felix?”

“I suppose.” He hesitantly took one of the cookies, nibbling on it.

"Willem's been introducing us to all sorts of wonderful foods," Lacan said happily. "I can't believe we've never tried them before!"

"I have to thank Liz,” Willem said sweetly. “She's taught me a lot of the recipes."

“Hey, Felix, there's something that I wanted to ask you.” He looked up at me from his cookie. “I noticed there's a lot of carvings and writings on the walls. Do you know what it says?”

He sat up a little straighter. “Yes, actually, the three of us were the ones who put the carvings in. It was our job to transcribe the history of the Dragonkin upon these walls.”

“So then the Reciters are like the historians of the Dragonkin?” I asked.

“I'm sure you could find a lot of records on these walls,” Willem said.

“My favorite story was about our friendship with the Night Kingdom,” Lacan said. “I think that should be somewhere around here.”

“You have records of that?” Lucious said, his eyes lighting up. “I want to see!”

The others pitched in their questions, asking about the various tales on the walls. And I could see Felix's eyes light up as he answered their questions.

In the end, we agreed to split up into three groups, each group following one of the Reciters down the various paths. Hugo, Zeus, Shu, and I followed Felix down the hall.

As we walked, the terrain of the ruins grew rougher. Even Felix and Zeus seemed to be struggling. 'I never thought that I'd see him struggle like this..'

And once again, we came to a branching path. “Should we split up again?”

“That won't be necessary,” he said coolly. “We shouldn't be far from the heart of the ruins now; I can send a few mini dragons to scout ahead.” As he spoke, he clasped his hands together, darkness pouring out of them and taking the form of two minidragons. They quickly scampered on the path ahead of us.

“Do you just have like minidragons that you can carry with you everywhere? You don't even need to summon them?” Zeus asked.

“Not quite. The power of Nightmare is the power to create out of shadows; what form that takes, whether it be minidragons, shadows, or a magical beast is up to me.”

“That would explain a lot.” I remembered the various magical beasts he had sent us before. Even a kraken.

“..Felix?” Felix glanced over at Zeus, who looked strangely sheepish for him. “I'm sorry about what I said before. About summoning the Vulcanaux earlier, I wasn't thinking about what this place meant to you.”

“Hmm.” It seemed like his expression softened. “I suppose this place must have always been a ruin in your time.”

“This place must hold a lot of memories for you,” I said.

“..Most of my memories of this place are of the battles that raged here."

"Battles?" I shivered.

"Many of them, tearing this place to ruins," he said, his gazing turning to the walls. The eeiry feeling was only starting to grow. "Those dragged into the dark." Okay that wasn't helping-" I can still hear-"

"Eep!" All eyes fell on me, and I quickly covered my mouth.

Felix looked at me, his eyes wide in surprise. "I.."

"..My apologies," he said after a moment. "Perhaps it would be best to stop there." I nodded.

"Thank you," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Something feels off in this place."

"There are places we've built that are more pleasant than this," Felix said wistfully. "During the war, the Dragonkin built a city deep beneath the earth, using crystals to light their path."

Wait, that sounded awfully familiar! "Are you talking about the Illusionary Town?"

"Have you been there?"

"Yes, we visited there when we were searching for the Star Sapphire! It was so beautiful.. Well, except for the part where we got chased by a winged man throwing feathers at us."

"Winged man.. winged man.." Felix muttered under his breath. "Are you talking about Ventus?"

"You knew him?!" But one look at Felix's face, and he burst into laughter. "Hey!"

"No, I have no idea who you're talking about," he said. "Perhaps a trap laid by the Dragonkins who made the town."

"Who knew he could laugh like that?"

"Look, there it is."

Shu stopped before a set of intricately carved doors.

Felix smirked. "Trust that a dragon of light would be able to find the temple's heart," he said. "The Gem of Light should be just beyond there."

"Can we go in there and just wait for the others?" Zeus asked.

"There's a reason it hasn't been disturbed yet; it is locked to Lacan's magic alone. Only he will be able to unlock it. I'll send the signal." He pulled down his hood, his horns starting to glow black.

"And now we wait," Zeus said, sitting down.

Felix turned to me with a smile. "I think if you look close enough, you can find a Ratatoskr in the designs.”

"Hree?" Shu flew up to the doors, examining them with such intensity that I couldn't help but laugh a little.

I took a closer look myself; indeed, there were many dragons carved through the door. "Ah, I found you!" Sure enough, there was a four winged dragon, brightly singing his little song. Shu cooed in happiness.

I noticed another carving in the door, of a dragon much larger than the rest.. one that I'd seen carvings of all of my life. "Felix," I said, "is this.."

"Hugo, the Dragon of Time." Even Hugo examined the door more closely.

"Did you know him?" 

"Somewhat. Though why he trusted the humans.." His expression softened, then went blank.

"Does this have something to do with him?"

"We'll explain everything when we get inside," Felix said.

After a little while, I heard chatter; Willem appeared with Elias, Alfonse, and Yukiya. 

"Wow, so you're telling me that you went back, after all of that?" Voices boomed round the corner. I looked up to see Lacan leading the way; Lucious was strolling at his side, Hiro and Caesar trailing behind.

"Ah!" He beamed as he came up to us. "Lucious was just telling me about your adventure in the Labyrinth, and how you all freed him and Felix!"

"That's one way of telling it."

"Lacan, will you do the honors?"

"Of course." Lacan walked up to the door, his horns glowing with light. In a moment, the doors parted, revealing the hidden chamber.

My breath hitched as we stepped inside. The chamber was set up like a throne room. A bright light shown from the center of the room.

"May I?" Lacan nodded; I carefully walked to the center, shielding my eyes from its glow.

The light was coming from a brilliant diamond, shining as bright as the sun; it looked to be about the size of a pomegranate. "This is.."

"The Gem of Light," Felix said. "The humans entrusted us with it, and we've kept it in here ever since."

"Will you tell us what's going on now?" The three reciters shared a look, stepping close to each other.

"The founders of Gedonelune crafted six gems, one for each element," Willem said. "Three of them were entrusted to the Dragonkin and buried within our land. Even when war was waged, we buried them so deep in our temples that the humans couldn't find them."

"What about the other three gems?"

"I believe they were entrusted to Gedonelune's noble families," Felix said. The noble families of Gedonelune?

"Oh!" Alfonse's eyes widened. "I've heard about those!"

"It is said there is a secret place, known only to the royal family, where the six gems are brought together," Willem said. "But if that should ever happen.."

And a voice spoke up from behind us, a voice that sent chills down my spine, "Then the Dragon of Time will be awakened once more."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucious: It was really interesting to hear about the history of the Dragonkin from them. I had no idea their history was so closely intertwined with ours.

Caesar: Did Lacan tell you about the history of the Night Kingdom?

Lucious: Yes! Apparently, our times were so close that some of our history got mixed up with theirs. Who would've thought?

Caesar: Oh, so you're as old as dirt just like them.

Lucious: ..Listen here!

Caesar: Uh-oh, looks like it's time for me to get out of here. Next time, Ruined Battle.


	4. Ruined Battle

"The Dragon of Time? What are you.."

The woman, Cordelia, stepped out of the shadows, laughter on her lips. "I see that you remember me."

"We know who you are," I said. "You're with Hawkeye."

"Ah, so you finally figured it out! I admit, losing the Golem was a big blow, but we've found a new plan. And the way I see it, what better way to destroy your wretched kingdom than with the very creature that created it? A fine irony."

My blood ran cold. Using the Dragon of Time..

'If the Dragon of Time should awaken, all of Gedonelune will fall.' That's what I had been told all of my life.

"And how do you plan to get your hands on those gems?" Felix snarled. "You may claim to have the power of the Dragonkin, but you're going against the full power of the Dragonkin Reciters.”

"Oh, you see, that's the best part! I don't have to! This guy will do it for me." She clapped her hands together, and I noticed the floor beginning to glow beneath our feet. "Get them, boy!"

A dark shadow began to take form- a very big, dark shadow- before us- and the chamber suddenly seemed very, very tiny.

"You think that this can stand against us?" Felix said. "Willem, Lacan, let's take care of this!"

They each held out their hands, magic circles glowing beneath their feet, combining into one magic circle. An immense amount of power filled the room, so strong that I could barely stand, spreading through the chamber-

But the attacks went right through the beast, sinking into the wall behind it! And the ceiling began to rumble, chunks of stone falling down around us.

"Something's wrong-"

Through the brilliant light, I saw Cordelia slip through their defenses, weaving through their attacks, making a beeline for the diamond.

The beast didn't matter; all that mattered was stopping Cordelia from getting her hands on that gem! I dove towards the gem, weaving through the attacks.

"Watch out!"

I fell, feeling darkness graze my back. Cordelia was right in front of me, reaching for the stone. I heard voices calling out, but all I could see was the stone.

'Just a little further-'

There was a brilliant flash of light, and suddenly, we were back at the entrance of the ruin.

"What happened?" I looked around; all of my friends were here, and Cordelia was nowhere in sight.

"It looks like we're all safe."

Hugo probably collapsed to his knees. "That took a lot out of me.."

I looked over, and my heart sank. Where the ruin had been was now nothing more than rubble.

"What was that beast? How could she have the power to summon something like that?"

"She didn't," Lacan said. "That wasn't a real creature; it was a projection of light. That's why all of our attacks passed through it. I should have realized from the start.."

"In other words, she played us all for fools," Caesar said.

Something was in my hand. I looked down; I was clutching the gem in my hand.

"I got it!" I said, getting to my feet.

Felix laughed, but it was hard and cold. "Good for you. The temple is destroyed, but Gedonelune gets to live to see another day."

"Felix!" Lacan cried.

"We tried to help them, and look at what we got! Our sacred place was destroyed!” He slowly got up, his voice as cold as ice. "It was a mistake to come here. Helping humans has never brought us anything but pain," Felix said, turning away. "Give him the gem. Let the dragon take Gedonelune away. Maybe then they'll understand what we went through."

"Felix, wait!"

I chased after him through the forest, but he just went on without looking back.

"Leave me alone," he snarled.

"So you're just going to give up then?!"

"Give up?" He stopped, turning back to me. "You have no idea what you're talking about." His voice was low and thundering, but I wasn't afraid of him.

For a moment, I saw pain flash across his face, and I softened. 'Of course he's angry.' It was only natural. A huge, irreplaceable part of his culture had been destroyed in one go. It was no wonder he felt like he didn't want to help us anymore.

"Felix, I'm sorry about the ruins," I said. "You have a right to be angry. They took something from you that can never be replaced.” I couldn't read his expression. "But you can't give up here. Do you think that they'd really stop at destroying Gedonelune? I saw what they're capable of, what the Golem did. My best friend almost died because of them. And I know they won't stop until they've reduced this whole world to cinders.”

  
  


He laughed, stepping closer to me until he was right in front of me. “How do you know that isn't what I want? If I recall, burning this world to cinders is exactly what you stopped me from doing before.”

“I don't believe that.” The words poured out of me. “I don't believe that's what you want anymore. I know how hard you've worked to build a new life here. You found the way. Living here with Lacan and Willem, being reunited with the Nidhogg..” I could see something in his eyes flickering, something changing. “They will take everything from you. Can you really look me in the eyes and tell me you're okay with that?”

He met my eyes, and I saw a mix of emotions cross his face, confusion and sorrow all at once. He turned away. “I just.. need some time.”

"All right."

When I went back to the others, they looked at me in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, we should just.." I didn't know if Felix was going to come back, but we couldn't stop here. "I think we should continue on. He'll come back if he wants to."

"For what it's worth," Lacan said, "I'll come with you. I can't let them destroy the rest of our ruins. Plus," he beamed, "I don't want them to hurt my newfound friends."

"And you know that you'll have my support," Willem said.

"And we'll help you too!" Zeus said.

"Yeah, we're not going to let them make fools out of us," Caesar said.

"We've got to protect the others. You're protecting us, after all."

Even if Felix wasn't here, we could work together. The bond between Dragonkins and humans was strengthening even now.

"Thank you." I turned to Willem. "Willem, do you know where they might target next?"

"There are five gems still left, two in our care," Willem said. "They may target any one of them. Although it's hard to say which of the noble families might have one."

"I think I know someone who might have one," Elias said. "I'll contact him at once."

I sighed as I climbed the stairs. 'Finally done with work for the day,' I thought. 'It would be nice to go up to the rooftop and relax..'

But when I got there, I saw a familiar face already there, gazing up at the stars through the telescope.

"Huh, I didn't know that you liked stargazing," I said idly. He turned to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked gruffly.

"I just wanted to get some air and think," I said, walking up to the railing. From here, I felt like I could see the whole world. "It's been a weird few days, truth be told."

"Hey." I turned to him; there was a strange look in his eyes, something that I couldn't place. "Don't go to Queensblade. You will not find what you seek there."

"What about you talking about? I wasn't planning a trip to Queensblade any time soon."

"It's.." He shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Oh, hey, roomie!" I looked up to see Gray coming our way. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Ugh, I'm leaving." Viggo grabbed his telescope and left. He turned back to me. "Don't go to Queensblade," he repeated.

'That was random,' I thought as I turned to Gray.

"Roomie?"

"Yeah, Viggo's my roommate!" Gray said cheerfully. Huh, that was a pairing I didn't expect. "I was just coming back from tending to today's memories." He tilted his head. "Actually, I had a couple of visitors today."

"Visitors?"

"Yeah, Willem came with a strange man. he was one of the guys who was supervising the Night Class the other day. The one wearing a hood?" He mimed a hood as he spoke. "He asked to see the memories of the fight with Drago."

"Felix!" My heart soared.

'Felix came back to the academy!' I thought. I didn't understand why my heart was racing, but I suddenly felt like I had to see him.

"Where is he now?"

My heart jumped in my throat as the door to the tower of Memories opened. And, sure enough, Felix and Willem walked out.

"I heard you would be here."

"You came back," I said.

"I thought about it for a while," he said. "I wanted to be angry, but you were right. They're not going to stop. And I have something that's worth protecting now."

I smiled. "So we can count on your help?"

"If you will accept it."

"Welcome aboard, Felix," I said honestly.

"Thank you." And although his expression didn't change, I wondered if I heard relief in his voice.

This time, the group all gathered in the Night Cafe. "It feels like it's been a while since I've been in here.."

They stood up as they saw Felix coming. "Ah, Felix, you're back."

"Yes, I just needed some time to think," he said, taking a seat next to me on the couch. "But I'm willing to help you now."

"Hey, Felix?" Caesar looked sheepish as he looked up. "We wanted to say that we're sorry about the ruin. We know how important that was to you."

"Thank you." He seemed to relax. "..As long as the three of us are around, our culture will live on through us."

"That's right! And we'll keep Hawkeye from getting their hands on the rest of your ruins!" He seemed to soften.

"Gray said that you visited the Tower of Memories. Did you find anything there?"

"Yes. Willem and I observed the memories of the previous encounters with Hawkeye. Seeing the Golem with my own eyes was quite an experience."

"What did you think of it?"

"It was-"

"Guys!" Elias rushed into the Night Cafe. "I think that I have a lead on one of the noble gems!"

Elias: So Felix wanted to see the fight with Drago?

Gray: Yeah, I was a little bit surprised, but I let him since he's a friend of Willem's.

Elias: You sure spent a lot of time in there for only showing him the fight against Drago.

Gray: Well, I showed him lots of other stuff too! He was very curious about the memories.

Elias: ..Gray, what exactly did you show him?

Gray: Oh, nothing too embarrassing, don't worry.

Elias: I'm not sure I like that expression on your face..

Gray: Next time, Early Morning.


	5. Early Morning

The next morning, I decided to bring Shu to the village again.

"Ah, Liz, what brings you here? We weren't supposed to meeting for a few hours."

"I thought I'd pay a visit, see how everyone was settling in.”

"Of course, come in, come in. I was just making breakfast. I'll set an extra plate at the table."

When I walked in, Lacan, Hugo, and Mischa were already sitting at the kitchen table. Lacan lit up as he saw me. "Hi Liz! Hi Shu! It's so good to see you again; here, come and have a seat."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," I said as I settled down at the table.

"Hugo was just telling me about how the two of you got the land for this village. I can't believe you were able to beat Felix in a board game!"

"Oh yeah, that was quite an interesting story," I said with a smile.

"You could help fill in the details," Hugo said with a smirk.

Lacan laughed as we told the story, of how we'd faced the strange 'hooded man', and how it had been a race against the clock. Hugo even seemed to relax as we told the story.

'I'm so glad to see they're getting along!'

It was strange. Back then, Felix had been a mysterious stranger to me; it was hard to picture him like that now.

"Where's Felix?"

"He's in the kitchen," Mischa said, smirking. "He's been observing how Willem cooks."

"I didn't know he had an interest in cooking." What would it be like to taste Felix's cooking? If he made something just for me..

'Woah,' I thought, shaking my head, 'where did that thought come from?'

"Strangely, he's been taking more of an interest in it lately," Lacan said, leaning on his hand.

"Here!" Willem swept into the dining room, setting down extra plates; Felix trailed behind him. "I made lots of extra, so eat up as much as you want. Oh, I also prepared some treats for Shu." He set down a little plate of treats; Shu leaped up and started to munch on the treats.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Hmm? Who could that be?"

"Oh, I'll get it." Lacan went to answer the door. "Oh, hello, Lucious! What brings you by?"

"I.. wanted to pay a visit before we went out," he said. "Can I come in?" Lacan beckoned him in.

"Good thing you made extra," Hugo said to Willem.

And a few minutes later, there was another knock on the door. This time, it was Zeus and Hiro.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "What do you want to bet that Caesar and Alfonse will be along any minute?"

"I think I heard them talking about it earlier," Lucious said.

"It looks like we all had the same idea.." Hiro shook his head.

"If they show up, we're going to be running out of space pretty soon," Lacan said.

Felix sighed. "Not to mention food.”

Willem started to get to his feet. "In that case, should I make extras?"

"You sit down," Felix said gently, pushing him back into his chair. "Don't overwork yourself. I'll take care of it."

"You?"

"I can help you!" I jumped up.

"Why don't we have lunch in the garden there?" Lacan suggested. "We can wait for the others there. Oh, and we can show you what the three of us have been planting!”

"That sounds good to me." Laughing, they went into the garden.

As we went into the kitchen, I realized that Willem's kitchen was smaller than I thought- which put me very close to Felix. And I realized something.. "Felix, don't you think it's going to be a little hard to move around the kitchen in your cloak?"

"Hmm? Oh, right, hang on." He slipped off his cloak, setting it to the side. "Better?" I found myself staring, and he tilted his head. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, no! You just look.. different without your cloak. You look nice," I said. "You look friendlier."

"Friendlier?"

"Well, you're so.. mysterious with that hood on," I blurted out. What was I saying? "But now you seem relatable. And.." I bit my tongue. I couldn't exactly say how handsome he looked, could I? "W-well, we should get to cooking," I said, turning my attention to the kitchen. "Felix, do you know anything about baking?"

"I've been watching how Willem does it," he answered smoothly, moving for the stove. "How hard can it be?"

A memory flashed through my mind of trying to teach Florin how to cook. 'Hopefully he's not that bad,' I thought with a shudder.

"Let's try pancakes! Those should be easy enough! Can you get the ingredients for me?"

I got out the tools; Felix deftly found and handed me each ingredient. "Oh, I think that Willem has some pancake molds in here," I said. I quickly found them, setting them on the counter. "What would you think of Carbuncle shaped pancakes? That sounds cute to me."

"You like Carbuncles?" he asked as we started to work.

"I do! My specialty at the academy is actually studying magical creatures," I said as I started to put the ingredients together.

"Really? I had no idea."

"They told me you were quite good with magical creatures too," he said.

He nodded; his eyes lit up as he talked. "The Castle in the Sky used to be home to magical creatures of all kinds," he said wistfully. "I'd spend my days learning about the various magical creatures so that I could take better care of them. Do you like Carbuncles?”

“I do.” Man, that brought back memories. “I used to hear them sing outside the Tower of Sorrow-”

“Ah!” A puff of flour filled the air, filling the small kitchen- covering Felix's robes. “..This is trickier than I thought.”

Once we had cleaned up, I noticed him gazing at me. “You've got some flour on your face,” he said, absently wiping my face.

As he turned away, I felt my heart racing. 'No fair..'

After that, despite my worries, things went much smoother. He didn't complain as we worked, stirring the bowl, and flipped the pancakes with ease.

"Can you taste this?" he asked, offering a fork.

"This is delicious!" I guess he wasn't a bad cook after all.

Just then, I heard voices bellowing from the garden. "Zeus, you already had your fill! Save some for the rest of us!"

"It looks like your friends are having a lot of fun out there," he said, idly flipping the pan.

"Look, Alfonse and Caesar showed up after all," I said; they were chasing Shu around the garden.

"I don't understand why they all showed up here," he said, tilting his head. "We weren't supposed to meet until later."

"I think they just wanted to spend time with you guys," I said. "They've been getting to know you."

"Even though I was once your enemy?" he asked, setting down the pan. "How can you trust me then?"

"They're funny like that." I couldn't help but smile. "When someone helps them, or shows their kindness, they don't forget that."

He gazed out at the garden, his expression sad and wistful all at once.

  
  


"I see. I'd.. almost forgotten what that was like." He looked down at the pan. "..I think the pancakes are ready; should we go and give them to your friends?"

"Hmm?"

I have to admit, I wanted to spend a little more time with Felix..

"Here, pancakes for everyone." We passed out the plates to everyone.

"Good, Zeus was hogging all of them," Lucious said, taking the plates.

"Luckily for you," Felix said smoothly, "we made enough for everyone, so you can have your fill."

"These are delicious!"

"Looks like your first time cooking didn't turn out so bad after all," I said to Felix.

"First time?" Willem tilted his head. "Felix has been helping me for.." Whatever Willem was gonna say, Felix cut him off with a look, so Willem laughed. Lacan hid a snort behind his hand. "I think you did very well, Felix."

"Thank you." He took a seat in the garden, with his own plate of pancakes. Everyone settled down around the garden. We enjoyed each other's company, talking and laughing in the garden together.

'It may be selfish of me, but I wish things could stay like this forever..'

Even though I'd seen it before, I still found myself marveling as we approached Albert's mansion. "Wow, it's so beautiful."

"Does this impress you?" Felix asked.

"How could it not? It's probably as big as the whole village!"

Oh yeah; he had grown up in a castle. 'Sometimes I forget I'm dealing with kings..'

"I suppose it's not bad, if it impresses you."

Elias, Klaus, and Yukiya were already sitting with Albert when we made it into the manor. But with them was a man that I didn't recognize.

He was tall, with dark hair and a charming smile. "That's exactly what I told him! But did he listen?"

"Hmm? Who's these?" he asked, standing up.

"These are friends of mine," Albert said.

"Well, it's always nice to meet new friends," he said, smiling at me. "Especially such a charming young lady as yourself." He took my hand, giving it a kiss. "Daniel Oxford, at your service."

"Oxford? You're.."

"I take it you met my older brother?" He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not as pompous as he is.

I would have let that poor boy go, but you know how stubborn he is.."

"If you'll excuse us," Felix said, "we have something to discuss with Albert."

"Of course. Albert, I trust we can work out the rest of the details later?"

"See you later." With that, the man took his leave, and Albert smiled. "It's nice to see you two again. It appears you've been settling in to your new lives."

Lacan tilted his head. "Have we met before?"

"I suppose that day would have all been a blur," Albert said. "I'm Albert Auburne; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Albert," Klaus said coolly, "don't you think that we should focus on the investigation?"

"Right, right. Please, have a seat." And he was in business mode once more. "You're looking for the three gems?"

"Three were entrusted to the Dragonkin," Yukiya said, "and three to the noble families of Gedonelune."

"We have already obtained one." Elias placed the diamond on the table.

"You told me before that your sword had been passed down from the First King," I said. "That gem on your sword; it might have been one of them."

"To think that my sword would be something so powerful. Not that I want the Dragon of Time to be awakened." His expression became serious. "Is there a way to find out?"

"We could try scanning it," Lacan said. "We'd be able to recognize the essence of it." Felix nodded.

Albert pulled the sword from its sheath, setting it on the table. Felix pulled down his hood; his horns glowing black. After a moment, Felix stopped, pulling his hood back on. "I recognize its energy. There is no doubt that this is the gem of fire."

"To think that my family would have such a thing. What would you like to do? Will you take the gem away from me?"

"We will need to keep a close eye on it," I said.

"People may try to come and take it away from you," Lacan said. "Hawkeye was willing to destroy one of our temples in order to get their hands on the Gem of Light."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Albert said.

"Thank you, that means a lot," Lacan said. Even Felix's eyes softened.

"Truth be told, I'm not sure I trust the Ministry to keep the gems," Klaus mused. "Who knows what they would do with that kind of power? They might try to use it for their own ends."

"Would it be safe with you then?" Albert asked. "I could trust Liz with it."

"I.." Hawkeye might come after me again if I had it. But.. they would be after me either way. "I'll take care of it."

"Well, I may be sorry to see it go, but I'm trusting you with it." He took back the sword, prying the stone from the sword. And then he held out the stone; it seemed to shine even brighter when released. "Here you go."

"Thank you. I won't betray your trust."

Albert: This feels bittersweet. On one hand, I lost the gem, but I know that it's in good hands with her.

Klaus: You made the right decision. I know that can't have been easy for you.

Albert: I'm surprised to hear that from you.

Klaus: I can be nice sometimes.

Albert: So, I'm curious, if the house of Auburne had one of the gems, does the house of Goldstein have one too?

Klaus: ..

Albert: Ha, I knew it! Finally, something that we have that you don't!

Klaus: I would choose your words very carefully, Albert.

Albert: Uh-oh, looks like it's time for me to scram. Next time, Crystal Cavern.


	6. Crystal Cavern

The others were waiting for us by the time we made it down to the Night Class. And a shiver went down my spine as I saw the cavern. I had passed by this place a thousand times, but it never failed to give me the creeps.

"This is where we'll leave you," Elias said. "We'll investigate the noble families."

"Thank you for doing this," I said, over Shu. Although I wanted to take him with me again, I had a feeling he wouldn't do as well underground.

"Good luck down there," Yukiya said.

"There is something that I should warn you of," Felix said. "The Temple affects the magic of humans; I'm afraid that you won't be able to use your magic while you're down there."

"What?" A chill swept down my spine. "But if Hawkeye should come down there-"

"Don't worry," Felix said, meeting my eyes squarely. "You'll have the three of us to protect you."

"And don't forget, Hawkeye's magic would be affected too," Lacan pointed out.

"And.. if their magic isn't affected?" The thought wouldn't leave my mind. What if they were telling the truth? What if they really were the lost descendants of the Dragonkin?

"Then I suppose the truth will finally come out."

  
The cavern seemed to stretch on forever as we walked.

The eeiry feeling wouldn't leave me alone; I found myself glancing over my shoulder as we walked. 'What if Hawkeye is following us again?'

Felix glanced over his shoulder at me. "Are you frightened?" he asked.

"A little."

"You can hold onto my cloak, if you like."

"Thank you." I walked closer to him, grasping his cloak.

'He seems a lot more gentle than before..' Regardless, my heart warmed that he was thinking of me.

"Hmm? That almost looks like people up ahead." Caesar walked ahead. I went to follow him, but Felix stopped me, shaking his head. Caesar jumped back. "Skeletons?! Did people die down here?!"

"Humans weren't supposed to be down here," Willem said sadly. "They came in search of precious jewels and died in the search."

"How could they do that?" I said. "To rob a sacred place like this."

"This was once a cave of wonders. And now it's been reduced to a place for thieves to pilfer.." Felix's expression was unreadable. "Let's keep going."

  
"How much longer does this go on?" Zeus asked. "It feels like we've been walking for hours!"

"Perhaps it would be best to take a rest for now.”

"In that case.." Felix looked thoughtful. "If I recall correctly, there might be a place up ahead for everyone to rest."

"Hmm? Oh!" Lacan's face lit up. "Yes, I think that would be a wonderful idea!" Willem nodded.

I tilted my head. "What are you talking about?"

"This way." We emerged through the cavern- to find ourselves in a room bathed in pale blue light. To our surprise, a spring was running through it. "Will this be a good place to rest?"

Lacan laughed.

"I had almost forgotten about this place! We used to come down to swim in the springs all the time!"

"Swimming?"

"Technically, it was meant to be for bathing before a ritual," Willem said, "but I don't think anyone used it that way."

"Would it be all right for us to go in?" Lucious asked, tentatively poking the water with his feet.

"Sure! Come on!" Lacan rushed into the water. The others laughed as they followed him in. Even Hugo leisurely went in.

"That looks like fun!" Laughing, I jumped into the water with them. The water was cool and refreshing on my skin. "This feels wonderful!"

We each took to the water, soaking in the water or floating on it.

"Ugh, I hadn't realized how grimy I felt," Caesar said.

"This is amazing," Lucious said. "This reminds me of the baths back in the Labyrinth."

Alfonse started to snicker. "Hey, Caesar, doesn't that remind you of the time Liz-"

"Don't you dare!" I said, splashing him- only to get splashed by Zeus in turn. "Hey!"

I noticed Felix standing on the sidelines, watching us. Lacan seemed to notice him too, swimming up to the edge. "Hey, Felix, don't you want to join us?"

"T-that's okay, really," he said, stepping away.

"Come on, you used to swim with us all the time," Lacan said playfully.

"Can he even swim?"

Hugo smirked. "Imagine if we'd known your weakness was swimming earlier.."

"Of course I can!" Felix huffed.

"He's an excellent swimmer, if a bit clum-"

"Lacan!" Felix hurried away from the edge of the pool-

"Watch out!"

-only for his foot to catch on the edge- sending him careening into the water!

"Woah!"

Felix gasped for air as he surfaced, shivering in the water, cloak clinging to him. Lacan swam over, tilting his head.

"Felix, are you all right?" he asked. Felix was quiet for a moment- and then splashed Lacan in the face. "Hey, hey!"

Felix laughed; my heart raced at his joyous smile. "You're right, Lacan, this is fun!"

  
Lacan was still wringing out his cloak as we continued in the cavern. "Ugh, I'm never gonna get dry.."

"That really hit the spot! I haven't felt this refreshed in ages!" Caesar laughed.

"Yeah, thank you for showing us that place! That was a lot of fun!" Felix looked a little taken aback, but he smiled.

"No problem."

  
As we progressed through the cave, the ground was getting rockier and rockier.

"Ugh, this is getting kind of difficult.." Zeus said. "We can't be that far now, can we?"

"Just a little farther," Felix said. Lacan and Willem walked lightly upon the rocky ground, as though they weren't bothered at all, but even Felix seemed to be struggling. Was it just me or was he stumbling?

"Felix, do you need help?" Willem asked carefully, falling in step behind him.

"I'm fine, it's just a little rockier than expected."

Come to think of it, Felix had been having trouble in the other ruin as well.

"You always did have trouble going through this place. I remember how you'd trip over everything."

"Huh?" Caesar's eyes widened. "Are you saying that Felix is clumsy?" Lacan covered his mouth with his hand, but the damage was done.

"Powerful but clumsy? Sounds like someone else we know," Zeus said with a smile.

"Hey!"

Willem stopped. "..Something's wrong."

Felix glanced over at him. "What are you.." But right as he spoke, his foot caught on something, sending him falling to his knees- and me with him.

"Felix!"

The ground was starting to shake- and rocks started to fall from the ceiling!

"Everyone, get back!"

  
I covered my eyes, coughing up the dust.

When the dust finally settled, I uncovered my eyes. All I saw was a solid wall of rock before me.

'Where did that come from?' I shivered. 'Am I all alone?'

"Liz?" Felix's voice called out to me. When I looked up, he stepped out of the darkness. "Here, take my hand." I took his hand, pulling myself to my feet.

"Liz? Felix?" Willem's voice called from the other side of the wall.

"Willem!" I rushed up to the wall. "Are you all right?" Voices called out from the other side.

"We're here, Willem!" Felix called back.

"The rest of us are on this side. Everyone is safe over here," Willem said. I let out a sigh of relief.

'Thank goodness. Thank goodness.'

"We're uninjured too," I said. "Is there a way that we could break through these rocks?"

"I could use my Nightmare magic, but.." Felix shook his head. "It's too risky. If anything went wrong, we could end up bringing down the entire cavern around us."

I could hear the pain in his voice; I knew he was thinking of the destruction of the original ruin. This place, which had been so precious to them, would be lost. I couldn't let that happen again.

I turned to Felix. "Felix, do you think that we're far from the gem?"

"Huh? I mean, we should be close, but.."

I turned back to the wall, calling out, "Willem, Lacan, do you think you could find your way back from here?"

"What are you planning?"

I steeled myself as I faced the rocks. "I think Felix and I will take it from here."

"Are you sure? Your magic.."

"I'll be fine! Felix is with me!" I said. "You just focus on getting back to the academy safely!"

If I did this, that meant that I would be alone with Felix. Once upon a time, the prospect might have been frightening. But.. I trusted Felix. Everything would be all right as soon as we got our hands on the gem.

Felix nodded, his hesitation melting away. "I'll take care of her. You just need to stay safe."

I heard murmurs from the other side. "..All right. But you stay safe as well."

"Don't worry, we will."

And then their voices faded, leaving just me and him. 'I'm sure that it will be fine.'

"I guess we should go on our way."

"Y-yeah." And so we started out, into the Crystal Cavern, his hand in mine.

  
We were silent as we walked through the caverns together.

And then Felix let out a bitter laugh. "It was only by chance that we ended up on one side of the wall, and them on the other. If I hadn't tripped.." He sighed. "I thought I'd grown out of this."

"Felix, is it true that you were clumsy?"

"I used to be," he said. "I'd trip over myself all the time, and I had a hard time controlling my powers. And with a power like Nightmare, well, you can imagine the trouble.."

Well, that sounded painfully familiar. "Trouble like making it rain frogs?" His eyes widened as he turned to me. "I used to have so much trouble with my powers too. I couldn't even pour a pitcher of water with magic until I came to the academy. I even used to make it rain frogs in the classroom."

He laughed a little. "I made it rain minidragons once." He grew quiet as he looked at me. "It's hard to imagine that even the Goddess of Time struggled with her magic, with all your power. The one who was able to destroy the Magical Clock.."

"I didn't know you thought that highly of me," I said. "I thought I was just a pest in your side."

"You may have been my enemy, but I did notice your power," he said, facing me.

It was strange, to see myself through his eyes. To have the respect- and fear- of someone so powerful. Was I so powerful in his eyes?

"I didn't learn how to control my powers until I came to the academy," I said. "All of my friends helped me learn. I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't been there. What about you?"

"My story is a little different," he said. "At the time, the power of Nightmare was almost unknown to the Dragonkins."

"Is it unique to you?"

I relaxed as we talked. It was strange. I felt comfortable around him, like I had known him for a long time. Perhaps it was just finding someone else who understood what it was like. I enjoyed talking with him, walking with him hand in hand.

"To the Reciters, at least. But the last Nightmare Reciter was long before my time, practically forgotten by the time I was born. They didn't know what to think of me." His gaze turned wistful. "And so I learned by watching magical creatures instead. Creatures that others would find frightening, but I saw their understanding of the world. I saw how much they could teach us."

"I understand what you mean. I've met so many wonderful magical creatures.

He nodded and smiled. "We would play together when we were younger. We learned how to tackle our powers together." His smile was so bright. "I found magical creatures to teach Willem and Lacan too. It took me a while, but I tracked down a Ratatoskr to teach Lacan about his magic. You should have heard them sing together."

"That sounds very sweet!" No wonder Lacan had taken such a liking to Shu. I could picture them singing together.

Something was stirring as I saw his smile, a warmth blossoming as I walked with him, hand in hand. But this feeling wasn't so bad. 'I think I want to walk with him a little longer..'

  
"We're here." We came before a grand set of doors.

"Do we need someone to unlock this?"

"Thankfully, it just needs the magic of a Dragonkin," he said. His horns glowed black, and the doors slid open.

My breath hitched in my throat as I stepped through the door. Towering structures filled the cavern, all made of brilliant crystal.

The entire room seemed to glow with light. I rushed forward. "It's so beautiful!" I said, rushing in. Even Felix smiled.

"The Dragonkin made all of the crystals you see here," he said. My heart jumped as he came closer, joining me at my side. "In harsh times, it became a custom to carry some of the crystals with you for protection, attached to their horns or in your hair."

"Like the crystals in your hair?" He touched his hair. In the light of the crystals, it seemed to glow like gold, with silver and green twinkling in his hair. His eyes too seemed to sparkle.

"That's right. They even have a purifying property. It's said that these crystals have a strange power," he said, reaching out to run his hand against them. "It's said that even the worst of curses can be cleansed within the heart of the crystal."

'He's so beautiful.' I quickly turned away, covering my mouth. 'Why did I think that? It almost sounds like I'm crushing on Felix..'

"What about the gem?" I finally managed to ask. "The crystal should be in there, shouldn't it?"

Felix's horns glowed, and a brilliant stone came towards us from within the stone. He held it out to me. The crystal seemed to shine with many colors, shifting even as I watched it. "It's so beautiful.."

"Long ago, this crystal was entrusted to us so that we could protect it," he said, holding out his hand. "And now, I am entrusting it to you."

I took it, my heart warming. "I promise that I won't betray your trust."

  
Things seemed to get easier as we walked out of the cavern, going higher. Perhaps it was because I was talking with Felix, laughing all the while.

"I think we're getting close to the exit," he said. "We should be meeting with the others soon."

I could see bright light. I followed the light, stepping through the tunnel.

I shielded my eyes until they adjusted. I found myself on all too familiar streets.. but it wasn't the streets of Gedonelune.

"Felix.." I turned to him, seeing his shock. "What are we doing in Queensblade?!"

  
Elias: It's strange to think that Felix was once a klutz like her. I guess he grew out of it like she did.

Alfonse: Huh? What are you talking about, her being a klutz?

Elias: You mean, you didn't know? Liz used to cause all sorts of trouble. You didn't hear about that?

Alfonse: No, when I met her, I heard she was top of her class. Her power was kind of intimidating, actually.

Elias: Unbelievable. I guess those days really were far in the past.

Alfonse: Next time, Queensblade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess now we understand Viggo's warning..


	7. Queensblade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does get pretty dark near the end. But I promise that the next one is super fluffy!

I didn't understand; we should have been arriving back in Gedonelune, safe and sound, but here we are on the streets of Queensblade?

"We should head back.” But when I turned around, the exit that we had just come through was gone, as if it had never been there at all.

Felix tugged on my hand; he looked even paler than usual. "We have to get out of here. I'm.. not exactly.. welcome in Queensblade."

Right. I had almost forgotten. I doubt Shezarade would have forgiven him for what he did. I couldn't let Felix be caught. "Here, this way."

We ducked through the streets, into a back alley. “How could this have happened?”

“The tunnels must have been connected.” He winced. “Come to think of it, that may have been one of the tunnels I used to travel between Gedonelune and Queensblade before.

"If the guards see you, you'll get arrested for sure."

A mix of emotions flashed across his face, and he sighed. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use this, but it looks like I have no choice."

"What are you..?" There was a puff of black smoke, and Felix disappeared. In his place was the slightly off Taffy.

"Tada! Taffy's here!" He gave a smile so bright I couldn't help but giggle as I saw him. "Taffy would appreciate it if you would stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry, you're just so adorable!"

His tone turned serious. "This isn't ideal, but we should be safe until we can get back to Gedonelune," he said. I scooped him up in my arms.

'This is weird. I never thought I'd be holding him like this,' I thought, feeling my heart racing. But I dismissed it. 'This is not the time to be thinking about my crush on Felix. Even if we are stuck here together..' Oh dear, this should be interesting.

"Our first priority should be finding our way back to Gedonelune," I said as we walked together. "Perhaps we could take a train back?”

My thoughts started to wander. What were the others up to right now? Would they be worried when they emerged from the cave to find out that we weren't there at the academy?

But all those thoughts were interrupted by a low rumbling. But not a cave this time- my stomach.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Probably when we were on the way back from Albert's." How long had that been? We must have been in that cave for hours- if not almost a day.

"It will be a long journey back to Gedonelune," he said. "We should stop and get some food before we go." It felt strange to have him worry about me like this.

"All right. I think I know just where to go."

Not long later, we settled down in a little corner outside, where we couldn't be seen.

"I ordered something for you too," I said, setting down the order on the table. He jumped up on the seat across from me.

"Dragonkins don't need that much to eat," he said pointedly.

"I know, but.. I know that you've been trying a lot of new foods lately. I thought it would be a shame if you didn't get to try it. Besides, their cake is to die for."

"Cake? I don't think I've tried it yet."

"Really? Well, you should definitely have some!" I couldn't resist poking a little fun. "Or are you stuffed?"

"Real funny," he said, but he was still smiling. I pushed the plate of cake towards him. He hesitantly took a piece and took a bite. But his face lit up. “This is delicious!”

"Have as much as you want!" I took the plate of pasta, giggling as he ate the cake. 'I knew that he would like it!'

He went quiet, gazing down at the cake. "..Can I ask you something?" I tilted my head. "Aren't you friends with Queen Zenobia? Are you okay with sneaking behind her back like this? I hurt her very deeply."

"I.." I had been thinking about that, but it all boiled down to one question. "Do you regret what you did to her?"

He was quiet for a long while, setting aside his cake. "At the time, I believed that I was doing what needed to be done. Everything was a means to an end, to get back what had been stolen from me. I thought that it was the only way. But now.. I'm not so sure."

"I believe you've changed,” I said firmly. “You chose to find a peaceful way to save Lacan; you chose to help us save Gedonelune. The Felix that I knew before wouldn't have done that."

"But I still don't understand why you gave me a chance. I hurt you."

"You did hurt us," I said. "You hurt a lot of people. But... Willem told me of someone he knew once, someone you once were. I wanted to believe that that someone was buried in there someone. And I thought that if I could find that person again, you'd bring good with you too."

And he had. He'd been different since he'd started living in the village. And I didn't want him to get hurt.

"That reminds me of something that someone told me once,” he said wistfully. “'Even if he's the worst person in the world, I would still want to save him.'"

That felt like a long time ago now. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do," he said with a smile.

I thought for a moment, choosing my words carefully. "If I can reach out to someone.. if facing them with love can be the difference, then I'd like to try,” I said. “As for Shezarade.. I think that if you talked to her, she would forgive you. But I don't think that this is the ideal situation for you two to meet again."

"Maybe someday," he said. "..Are you finished eating?"

I realized I had set my plate aside. "I think so."

"Then let's get going."

The streets were lined with colorful stalls, merchants calling out their wares; they seemed to shine in the night. I found myself staring as I walked by.

"I guess I should start looking for the train station, shouldn't I?" I turned to face him- only to find that I was alone. "Huh?! Where'd you go?"

I was sure that I had kept him within my sight! But- Come to think of it- I may have set him down to take a closer look at one of the stalls, but-

'I need to find him and fast!' I hurried through the market again. 'Did I set him down around here?'

A familiar voice caught my ear. "Here's your change, ma'm."

'Hisoka! I forgot that he was supposed to be in Queensblade!'

My blood ran cold as I approached his stall. His stall was lined with toys and games- including an all too familiar plushie sitting on the shelf!

  
  


"It's a.. long story," I said. "But I think there's been a mistake. You've picked up something of mine by mistake." I couldn't tell him that the Slightly Off Taffy was Felix; would he forgive him if he knew who he was?

"Oh, are you talking about this strange plushie?" He picked up Felix, holding him out.

"Y-yes! He's one of my plushies, but I lost him in the market!" I quickly took him back. "Thank you for finding him for me!"

"No problem." Hisoka smiled. "I found him sitting on the ground earlier. I should have known that he belonged to someone."

'I'm sorry, Hisoka.'

Just then, I saw a familiar little figure toddling our way, carrying a basket. "I've brought what you asked for-" Hachi let out a cry, dropping the basket. "M-master, this smell.. This smells like that man...!"

Oh no.

Hisoka was dead silent as we went back to the inn, his expression unreadable. Hachi trailed behind him, gazing at Felix.

It was only when we'd stepped into a private room, away from prying eyes, that Felix dared to speak. "Hisoka.."

"I know that's not your real form, friend,” he said with false cheer. “Why don't you show yourself?"

In a puff, Felix returned to his normal form. Hachi whimpered as he hid behind his leg.

"You're the one who sent all those nasty things after us in order to get the watch."

"Hisoka, he.." Felix held up a hand to stop me. Right. Perhaps it was for the best to let him speak for himself.

He raised his chin as he faced him. "You're right. You two were innocents, caught up in my hatred of humans, in my revenge. I hurt you deeply; I'm sorry.”

"I can forgive what you did to me, but.." He glanced down at Hachi.

"May I?" Hachi tentatively nodded. He knelt down to face Hachi, pulling down his hood; Hachi looked up at him. "Hachi, I shouldn't have threatened you. You were innocent, and I hurt you. I'm sorry. ..And for what it's worth, you were awfully brave."

Hachi was quiet for a moment, examining his face. And then he broke out in a smile. "You're forgiven!"

"Then I think that we're all good here," Hisoka said. "If Hachi forgives you, so do I."

I let out a sigh of relief. 'That went better than expected. Hisoka is so kind.'

"Thank you." Hisoka suddenly burst into laughter, shielding his face behind his hands. "What's so funny?"

"I'm glad that I didn't end up selling you!” he said between fits of laughter. “Who would've thought you would be that adorable plushie? I guess we'll call it even!" Once his laughter subsided, he looked at us curiously. "But how did the two of you end up travelling together?"

"It's a long story.."

Hisoka sighed as we finished telling the story. "That is quite a conundrum," Hisoka said.

"But I don't think the train lines run that far this time of night."

I glanced out at the sky. Between eating and looking at the market, it had gotten quite dark without us realizing it.

"We don't exactly have a place to stay for the night."

"You can use my rooms for the night," he said with a smile. "Hachi and I will make other arrangements. Besides, from the sound of it, the more we can keep you out of the spotlight, the better."

"Well,” I said at last, “I suppose that one more night in Queensblade couldn't hurt, if we catch the first train in the morning."

“That'll be fine.”

“I can't thank you enough,” I said, bowing.

"Don't mention it. Rest well, you two." With that, Hisoka left us in the room.

And I realized something as I glanced around the room. 'W-wait, if Hisoka checked out this room for him and Hachi, then that means..'

"Hmm, what's the matter?" Felix gazed at me curiously.

"Felix.. does this mean that you and I are going to be sharing a room?" And a quick glance told me that there was only one bed!

If we had to.. would it really be so bad? To be that close to Felix..

'Get a hold of yourself, Liz!' I told myself.

"Oh." Was he blushing? "Oh, uh, well.." He turned and went to the corner of the room. "Well, you should be the one to rest."

"Are you sure that's all right?"

"I don't need to sleep," he said. "I simply need a place to wait until morning, so I'll just sit over here." He sat in a chair in the corner of the room. "Go ahead and get some rest."

Oh right. I suppose.. it was a good thing that Dragonkins didn't need to sleep? But somehow I felt a little disappointed. "Thank you."

I went to the bed, lying down on it. Weariness washed over me, but my mind was still racing.

"Felix, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"I know that Dragonkin don't need to sleep, but.. do you never sleep?"

"I try not to, if I can help it," he said. Sadness flicked across his face. "I've spent enough of my life asleep."

Oh. Of course he would try to avoid it. "Felix, I'm so sorry."

"It's all right. Just try to get some rest."

I laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, even when Felix had gone quiet.

'I hope the others are doing all right,' I thought. My heart ached as I thought about what they must be thinking now. 'They should be all right if they're back in Gedonelune. I hope they're taking care of Shu..' I tossed and turned, my gaze falling on the quiet figure in the chair. 'How strange that I've ended up here with Felix..

'And yet.. I've been having fun with him.' Having cake with him, walking with him through the crystal cavern, and now sharing a room like this together. Not only had he changed along the way, but I think that my feelings had as well. 'I want to hold onto this feeling..'

The next morning, Hisoka knocked on the door. "Good morning, you two," he said as he stepped into the room. "Did you sleep well?"

"Eventually," I said.

"Oh, by the way, there's someone here who wanted to see you," Hisoka said. "I think that he said that his name was Daniel?"

"Daniel Oxford?" Hisoka nodded.

"That man that we met at Albert's mansion?" Felix asked; I nodded. How strange, I wasn't expecting to run into him again so soon..

"I'll go and speak to him.”

"Then I'll go with you in my plushie form," Felix said, already starting to get up.

"It's all right. I don't think this will take long," I said. "Besides, he might get suspicious if he sees your plushie form."

"I suppose." But I had a feeling Felix still wasn't buying it.

Daniel was waiting for me in the lobby. "Ah, Liz,” he said. “It's so good to see you again. Didn't I just see you in Albert's mansion?"

"I had some.. business in Queensblade," I said, falling in step next to him.

"What a coincidence, so did I," he said with a smile. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyway. Here, come with me." I followed after him into his room. He closed the door behind him. “Would you like some tea?”

“That sounds lovely,” I said, taking a seat at his table.

"Albert told me about your mission,” he said as he went into the kitchen. “You've been looking for the six gems?"

Albert had told him? "Yes, that's right," I said. "I was actually wondering about that. Do you think that the Oxfords would have a connection to one of the gems?"

"I'm afraid not. Though my family has longed for power, it often eludes us. However.. I have to admit, I'm impressed with you. You've already found three of the six."

"Huh? How did you.."

Pain- burning pain exploding across my back-

Through the haze, I saw a figure stepping out from the shadows- a glint of silver-

Daniel laughed. "Wonderful job, my dear."

I fell-

Someone rushed into the room-

"How pathetic,” Daniel sneered. “Are you supposed to be some kind of knight? Who would think a Dragonkin would fall so far?"

"Liz!"

Someone was holding me..

"Stay with me!" A voice was crying out, but I couldn't see his face. "Liz, stay with me!"

'Felix.. he trusted me..'

Caesar: So, uh, it must have been a little hard to run around in your plushie form, wasn't it?

Willem: Huh? Oh yeah, I guess so. It's just a little hard to focus after that.

Caesar: Me too. I hope that she's going to be all right. Felix is going to take care of her, isn't he? I mean, he has to, this is her story, isn't it?

Willem: We'll just have to keep an eye out for her.

Caesar: Next time on, Fragile.


	8. Fragile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With regards to clothes, this chapter and cg was written before Felix's casual outfit was revealed. OTL

I faded in and out of consciousness. In the distance, I could hear a voice calling out to me-

'Who is that?' I tried to reach out to that voice, but I found myself slipping again.

When I finally awoke, everything hurt.

'Where am I?' The world was blurry around me. I started to sit up-

"Hey, hey, take it easy." Gentle hands pressed me back down. “You were very badly injured.”

I finally pinpointed the voice. “Hisoka?” When the world came to, I saw that he was sitting at my bedside.

"The doctor said that if we had been even a little bit later, you wouldn't have made it."

And all of the memories of before came rushing back to me. “They attacked me. I met with Daniel, but he was working with Cordelia..”

“It was Daniel who attacked you?” I nodded. “..Liz. I will trust what you say, but I have to ask- are you sure that Felix played no part in this?”

“What?!” Everything started to hurt again as I sat up. “Of course not! He wouldn't hurt me- ow!”

“I told you to be careful,” he said gently. “But.. that's a relief.”

I knew that his words only came out of a place of concern for me. “Thank you.”

He turned to the door. “Felix, you can come in now.” He rushed in, stumbling over himself as he came to my side. "I'm sorry, but I needed to make sure."

"Liz.. Thank goodness that you're all right."

I had never seen him acting like this before. "Felix, were you worried about me?"

“Of course I was.” His sincerity took me off guard. There was something different in his eyes.

“He ran and got me when he found you,” Hisoka told me. “I've never seen him like it, begging me to save you-”

“Hisoka!” Felix said sharply.

“Right, right.”

I could only stare in awe. 'He saved me.' Even knowing that Hisoka might suspect him, he ran and got help.

“Thank you..”

"I think I'll give you two some time alone," Hisoka said, innocently whistling. "Come along, Hachi."

With that, it was just the two of us left. Felix sat on the edge of the bed, taking my hand.

And panic suddenly swept through me. 'The gems!' I'd carried two of the gems with me.

“Felix, can you bring me my bag?” He quickly fetched it, setting it at my side. I pulled out every item, dropping them on the bed, but my heart sank as the truth that I'd already known became clear. “The gems aren't here. They took them from me!”

“It's all right.”

“They must have known that I was carrying them- they probably followed us through the tunnel-” Tears bristled in my eyes. “You trusted me with them-”

“Liz!” He squeezed my hand, bringing me back to reality. “It's all right!”

“But you..”

“That doesn't matter,” he said firmly, looking me in the eye. “The only that matters is that you're all right.”

“Felix..” A strange feeling washed over me as I heard the concern in his voice, something that I couldn't quite name. “Thank you.”

Once Hisoka got back, the conversation turned to more practical matters.

“How are we going to get to Gedonelune?” I asked. “Travelling by train is out of the question.” It had been a few hours since I had woken up, but it still hurt to even sit up. “Felix, what about your teleportation magic?”

“I don't think I could take you that far by myself,” he said. “And I don't want to leave you by yourself.”

“It might be better to stay here for a few more days,” Hisoka said gently. “I've already spoken to the innkeeper about staying here for a while longer.”

What would the others think if we didn't come back for several days? They would only worry more the longer that we were gone. “In that case, it might be best to send a letter to the others.”

“All right.”

Hisoka turned to Felix, tilting his head. "You know, if you're going to be staying in the city, it might be best to have a disguise so you can move around more easily."

“I suppose it would be easier to help Liz that way,” he murmured. “I could use that 'other form'..”

"To be honest, Felix,” I said, “your most distinctive feature is your hood. You might be able to disguise yourself by just going without your cloak."

He looked at me. "You really think so?"

“Let's see what Hisoka thinks.” Hisoka looked at him expectantly. Felix hesitantly took off his cloak. Once again, I was amazed how different he looked.

"Wow. I wouldn't believe you were the same person if I hadn't seen it for myself." He smiled as he circled Felix. "Perhaps with a change of clothes, we could really make this work."

“Couldn't you use that other outfit?” I remember how he had changed his clothes with a snap of his fingers.

He sighed. “..I left them at the house. And it's not like I can exactly go clothes shopping."

"Well, luckily for you," Hisoka said with a smile, "I happen to know an excellent merchant who may be able to get you some."

"Come on, Felix, let us see!"

"I'm not coming out! I feel ridiculous!" Felix had holed himself up in the bathroom after Hisoka had brought the other outfit.

I couldn't help but giggle as I heard him. "Come on, Felix, I want to see!"

"..Fine." He stepped out of the bathroom, smoothing down his outfit. Although the style was similar to his old outfit, he was dressed in black and green. “I feel ridiculous in this outfit.”

“I think it looks very nice on you,” I said honestly.

“You think so?”

"Just as I thought, just a little change, but you look like a completely different person."

"I have to thank you, Hisoka, for helping us with this, even after everything I do to you. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

" I'll tell you what," Hisoka said with a sweet smile, "when we get back to Gedonelune, I'll put you to work in my market. How does that sound?"

"Seriously?"

"Well, how about we go try this out?"

'They've been gone for a while..'

I admit, I felt a bit restless without them there. And I noticed something draped over the edge of the bed. 'Is that Felix's cloak?' Maybe it was just the boredom setting in, but I found myself wondering what it felt like. I carefully reached out and picked up the cloak, holding it close to me. 'It's a lot softer than I expected.'

An hour later, I heard voices laughing. Felix and Hisoka strolled into the room.

"Well, I would say that was a mission success. I had Felix come to the market with me, and no one spared him a second glance."

"I thought for sure my horns would have given me away," Felix said, taking a seat. "Do you think they thought I was a Beastman?"

"Most likely; the Beastman are not an unfamiliar sight around here or in Gedonelune anymore."

"It seems so different from a few months ago," Felix said. I remembered how the people had hated Hisoka when he had been revealed. "I thought the Beastmen would follow in the path of the Dragonkin."

"They might have, have things gone a little differently," Hisoka said. "But things have been changing so much. I believe that the Beastmen and the humans are finding peace together."

"I think that things have been changing for the Dragonkin too," I said.

"You really think so?" Felix asked, turning to me.

"Just look at our friends! I think that they've really opened up to you and Lacan." Hisoka nodded too. "I want to believe that, if the others had a chance to know you, they would see the same."

"Humans and Dragonkins getting along.. I never thought I'd see the day. But now that future doesn't sound so bad." He tilted his head as he saw me. “..Is that my cloak?”

“Oh.” I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. “I'm sorry, it just looked so soft.”

He sighed, patting my head. “You're injured, so I'll allow it.”

I heard voices laughing that night. I could even hear Hachi's voice happily among them.

'I'm so glad that they're getting along.'

I slowly awoke. 'I think that I'm starting to feel a little better now..'

I heard soft snoring. I looked over and saw Felix sitting in the chair next to me- fast asleep.

'Did he stay awake all night watching over me?' I thought. I found myself watching his face. He looked strangely serene. 'It must have been the first time he's let himself rest in a long time. Perhaps I'll let him sleep for a little while longer..'

By the next morning, I was feeling well enough to sit up in bed.

“Here,” Felix said, sitting down with me, “I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you something from the market.”

“Thank you, Felix.” But I couldn't help but let out a little laugh as I unwrapped the bundle. “Felix, this is cake.”

“..I thought you liked cake?” He said it so sincerely I had to stop myself from laughing.

“Well, I do, but it's not exactly something you have for breakfast. Unless you're talking about pancakes, but that's a different thing.”

“..I still have a lot to learn about food.” As we talked, I started to feel a stinging pain again in my back. And I felt Felix's gaze fall on me. "Are your wounds bothering you?"

"I'm fine," I said, though I was starting to shift. My back was starting to hurt more than I thought, but I didn't want to bother him.

'It's already enough that he's taking care of me. I can't ask him to do more.'

“I can call the doctor if you want. Or I can take a look at them if you want.”

"I-I'm fine, really!" I shook my head, but the movement gave me away.

“Are you all right?!” The worry in his voice caught me off-guard.

“Maybe.. it hurts a bit more than I thought,” I said. “Can you help me?”

He nodded. “Hisoka said that the doctor left some medicine here to take care of your wounds. Let me see if I can find it.”

I got ready, grabbing a blanket to cover my front with. He came out with a small basket.

I gulped as I brushed aside my hair, exposing my back. Felix took a seat behind me, taking up a cloth from the basket.

  
  


"This may sting a little."

"Ow." I flinched as the cold medicine touched my back.

"Sorry."

This was a strange feeling. I'd cast healing spells when I needed too before, but it was different to be on the other side of healing.

"Have you done this before?" I asked. Even though the medicine was harsh, his hands were gentle, and I found myself relaxing at his touch. I felt at ease with him.

"Normally, a wound would be treated with light magic," he said. "But since I don't have access to it, I learned how to use more traditional methods of healing."

"I thought that Dragonkin wounds healed quickly?" I bit my lip.

'Did he learn how to treat wounds in the war?' I thought, immediately regretting it.

"Some Dragonkins can be stubborn," he said with a laugh. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take up the bandages from the bag. "I learned how to treat Lacan. He used to get into scrapes all the time, saying he could handle the pain." He sighed. "I still remember the time he chased a wind cat up a tree. He thought he could handle it, but he ended up getting very scratched up. I helped him treat his wounds all the time.”

"That sounds like him," I said.

"There you go, all done." I relaxed as he finished. "That wasn't so bad, was it, Liz?"

"Not at all," I admitted. "..Thank you."

"Not a problem."

"There's someone here to see you."

I tensed as I heard Hisoka's voice, and I felt Felix tense at my side. 'Is it Hawkeye? Perhaps they've come back again to finish the job-' I stared at the door, reaching for my wand. 'Even if I am injured, they won't take me by surprise. I can fight them this time.'

But Hisoka was smiling as he came into the room, followed by Hugo.

"Hugo!"

"Did you teleport all the way from Gedonelune?"

He nodded. "We figured that if you couldn't come back, I could come and bring you two back. Though it took a little while to figure that out."

"That was a smart move," Felix said, helping me to my feet. Hugo eyed him, but, to his credit, he didn't say anything.

"Are you all right to walk?"

"I think I can manage."

"I think this is where I leave you two," Hisoka said with his smile. "But I'll look forward to seeing you the next time I'm in Gedonelune."

"Bye Felix!" Hachi said happily.

"I'm afraid that we can't let you leave so easily." My blood ran cold at the voice as a familiar figure walked into the room.

'No, no.' I hadn't expected the knights to show up now, not at all.

"We had reports that Felix had been hiding in this inn. I didn't expect that you'd try your luck once again, letting alone harming a precious friend of the queen."

"No, you've got it all wrong!" I cried. "Felix has been protecting me!"

"Even still, I have orders to bring him in."

Hugo took my hand, looking over at Felix. "There's still time to get away from here."

"No. If we run now, it could end up causing an incident between Gedonelune and Queensblade," he said. "It would be better for me to go with them."

"Then I'm coming with you!" I said. Hugo and Hisoka both nodded.

"Very well. Take him away."

I followed behind the knights as they dragged Felix into the throne room.

Shezarade was already waiting for us, sitting on her throne. Her eyes widened as she saw me, and I knew what she was thinking instantly.

"Shezarade, I can promise, it's not what you think. I was attacked by Hawkeye, not by Felix."

She eyed him warily. "He didn't harm you?"

"He has been nothing but kind to me."

She relaxed, helping me over, but she still glared at Felix.

'I can't blame her for how angry she's feeling,' I thought. As much as I wanted to speak up, I knew that I would have to let Felix speak for himself. 'I get the feeling that this is what Felix wants..'

"I'm amazed that you would return to Queensblade," she said, her voice cold. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Your Majesty." Felix knelt before her throne, the guards keeping a watchful eye on him. "I knew that words cannot make right what I did to you and to Queensblade, but I'm sorry. I will take full responsibility for what I've done."

"You seem.. different." Shezarade relaxed a hair. "The Felix that I knew would have never apologized."

"A lot has happened since then," he said. "Someone has shown me that there might have been a different way." I could feel his gaze on me.

"You trust him?" she asked me, and I nodded. "You believe that he has changed?"

"I do. He's been protecting me while we've been here. I would have died if he hadn't found me."

"I can attest to that," Hisoka pitched in.

"He has helped us as well," Hugo said.

"..Very well then. Let him go."

"Your Majesty..!"

"I trust my friends, and his apology seems sincere. I may not like you, but I will let you go."

"Thank you. Your Majesty." The guards took a step back, letting him go.

And with that, our adventure in Queensblade came to an end. All that was left was to return home.

Hisoka: So, what did you do while they were gone?

Hugo: Mostly panicking. It took a while to realize that we could use my powers to bring them back.

Hisoka: That's awfully convenient. Why don't you use that power more often?

Hugo: Are you kidding? If Zeus and the others figured it out, they'd never leave me alone.

Hisoka: That would be rough.

Hugo: I just used it this time cause it's an emergency.

Hisoka: Ah, I see. You don't mind doing it if it's for her.

Hugo: ..I'm going home.

Hisoka: Next time, Back Home.


	9. Back Home

"Mama!" Shu nearly bowled me over as he ran into my arms. It hurt a little, but it felt so good to see him again.

"I'm sorry," I said, petting him. "I didn't mean to be gone for so long."

A crowd was already gathering around us. "Thank goodness you're all right," Willem said.

"We all got scared when you told us you were hurt.” Caesar laughed. “Zeus started crying!"

"I did not!"

"Perhaps we should move inside so Liz can sit down?" Felix asked pointedly. He was still supporting my shoulders.

"Here," Alfonse took my arm, "I'll take a look at your wounds inside."

Lacan tilted his head as he looked at Felix. "..What are you wearing?"

"It's a long story."

  
Once Alfonse was finished with me, I quietly slipped into the room. Everyone was gathered around Felix. I caught the tail end of his words, “two of the gems.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, sitting down next to Felix. “Because of me, they got away with two of the gems.”

“It's all right,” Lacan said sweetly. “You had no way of knowing that they would have followed you all that way. Besides,” he grinned, “we still have one of the gems left.” He took out the Gem of Light. “We've managed to keep it safe so far.”

“We're just glad you're safe.” My heart warmed as they patted my shoulders, reaffirming their faith in me.

  
I could hear Headmaster Schuyler's voice bellowing through the door as I approached the office.

'Only one person who could cause him to get that frustrated,' I thought. 'Must be Viggo in there.'

“Headmaster?” I called, knocking on the door. “It's Liz and Felix, reporting back from Queensblade.”

“Come in.”

Randolph and Schuyler were already waiting as we walked in. And just as suspected, Viggo was standing there, looking like he didn't have a care in the world even if he had probably just received another scolding of his life.

Felix tilted his head as he faced Viggo. “Hmm? You are..”

“Felix, this is Viggo; he's a Night Class student, and quite the troublemaker at that.”

“Welcome back, Liz,” Randolph said warmly. “Can I get you a chair?”

“No, sir.” Though I still found myself leaning on Felix's shoulder. He didn't seem to complain.

“We heard that you ran into quite a bit of trouble in Queensblade,” Headmaster Schuyler said.

“I did warn you not to go there,” Viggo muttered.

That question had been sticking with me for a while. “Viggo, how did you-”

“Can you give us your report on what happened?” Randolph cut me off.

“Oh, right.” I raised my chin. “The tunnels to the Crystal Cavern ended up being unexpectedly connected to Queensblade. When we were on our way back, I was lured into a meeting with a nobleman, who attacked me. We believe that he was working with Hawkeye.”

“I know that he was working with them,” Felix said. “I saw him and Cordelia gloating together when I came in.”

“Who was this nobleman?”

“Daniel Oxford, sir,” I said.

“Daniel?” Viggo's eyes went wide. “He was the one who attacked you?”

“Y-yes.” Strange; he almost reacted as though he knew him. “We want to stop him, if he's been working with Hawkeye.”

“It won't work,” Viggo sneered. “He's too powerful. Not even I can..” A strange expression came across his face. He shook his head, turning away. “Whatever. I'm out of here!”

“Viggo! We're not finished here!” Schuyler yelled, chasing after him.

“..Well, we can certainly look into the case,” Randolph said, turning to me. “What do you plan to do next?”

“The others have tried looking into the noble gems, but there are few leads yet,” Felix said. “After talking with Willem and Lacan, we want to put our efforts into finding the last of our gems, the gem of darkness.”

“Where is the gem of darkness anyway?” I asked.

Felix turned away from me. "You've already been there," Felix said. "It's hidden in the hills of Veda."

  
A few days later, I was leaving the clinic when I saw Felix waiting for me. To my surprise, he was in his casual outfit.

"Felix!" Shu let out a happy chirp, running up to him and nuzzling him.

"Were you waiting for me?"

"I.. wanted to see how you were doing," he said. "Were you at the infirmary?"

"Yep, Alfonse gave me the all clear! He said that my wounds have healed completely." He let out a sigh of relief.

Something fluttered in my chest when I saw his expression. 'Was he worried about me?'

"I was just about to head off to class; I'm teaching the Day Class for today." Somehow, it would be nice if he were to stay by my side a little longer. "You might find it interesting; I was going to give a lecture on magical creatures."

He tilted his head. "What are you going to be discussing?"

"I was hoping to share what I learned about Shu with the class.” Come to think of it, this might be a good chance to spend time with him. “..Would you like to help me?"

  
As the students started to filter into the courtyard, their gazes drifted to Felix, but they seemed to look at him with curiosity. He seemed apprehensive as he faced them.

"Today, class, we're going to discuss dragons,” I said. “By now, my dear familiar Shu is probably a familiar sight to you."

"Hree, hree!" The little dragon chirped as he flew around the courtyard.

"I've brought a friend today who is an expert in dragons to talk to you about them." Felix stepped forward.

"..Hello," he said, awkwardly.

Oh dear. He might need a little prompting. "So, Felix,” I asked gently, “would you say that a dragon is a common sight?"

"Not nowadays,” he said, turning to me. “They used to roam the skies, but now.. a true dragon like Shu, let alone one of his color, is a rarity.”

“If you wanted to find one,” I asked, “where would you go?”

“Well, they tend to go in places where the earth's magic is the strongest."

Felix seemed to relax as the lecture went on. As he spoke, Shu flew around the courtyard, sniffing at the students. They giggled as he passed by. 

“Although their power can be great, their base nature is empathetic; they are quick to befriend anyone." I watched his face as he spoke. There was a gentleness there; his eyes seemed to light up as he spoke.

"What about minidragons?" Ted asked. "I've heard that they're so vicious that only a Dragonkin can tame them."

"They can be quite trouble if given a command, but, in the right hands, they can be quite gentle."

"Can you summon them?" Lars asked, standing up. "I would love to see them!"

"Would that be all right?" he asked, glancing at me.

"I don't see why not."

He clasped his hands together; darkness poured out of his hands. The students took a step back, keeping their eyes on him. A moment later, they took the form of three small minidragons, about the same size as Shu. I watched them, but they seemed.. gentle.

"Hree? Hree?" Shu flew over to the mindragons and nuzzled against them. The minidragons flew around him, and the dragons started to play.

"See? Not so bad after all." I watched him as he continued on with the lecture. As he talked, the dragons would play or fly around him; he didn't seem to mind even when they nestled in his hair. I could hear the students giggling as he talked.

'This is going better than expected!'

  
"I think that the students really enjoyed that."

We sat together in the grass, watching the minidragons hop around with Shu, playfully chasing each other through the courtyard.'

"It's been a while since I've gotten to teach about magical creatures like that," he said, tilting his head. "I was a little nervous at first, but the words just came out."

"I feel like the students really warmed up to you," I said with a laugh. "Did you teach them a lot?"

"I used to teach the younger Dragonkin about magical creatures," he said. "What about you? You seem to have a lot of experience with this."

"I do! I used to be a vet before I came to the academy. Taking care of magical creatures was my specialty." I watched the Minidragons chasing Shu around. "I never knew that Minidragons could be so gentle. I've only ever seen them in battle before."

"These in particular respond to my mood," he said. "Once upon a time, they were gentle creatures. The Nidhogg would often chase them around the Castle in the Sky."

We fell in silence, watching them. But, strangely, it was a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Felix.. I need to pick up some things from town. Would you like to come with me?"

  
As we walked, I noticed his attention drifting, glancing around the streets.

"What are you doing?"

He shook his head. "Where are we headed first?"

"I wanted to pick up some baking supplies from the store before the trip." We only had a few more days before we headed to Veda, so I wanted to be prepared. "I usually make cookies before a trip like this."

"Baking supplies? I don't know much about that. Willem usually picks them up for us."

"Well, I'll show you!" I grabbed his hand, pulling him into the shop.

His eyes widened as we went into the grocery shop.

"Having to eat three times a day seems inconvenient," he said, looking through all the ingredients.

"Well, not having to eat sounds boring to me," I said without thinking.

"Boring?"

"Maybe it's just because I love to bake," I said as I started to gather my ingredients. "But there are so many different foods to try everyday. Some days, a good meal is what I look forward to the most. I feel like.. even I was immortal, I'd still want to make food for my friends. Besides, food is one of the most important ways that humans bond. I find that nothing brings people together, even enemies, like a good meal."

"..So that's where he gets it from." I looked up, but he shook his head. "Nothing."

I finished gathering the ingredients. But as I walked by, I noticed he stopped, gingerly staring at something. "What are you looking at?" I followed his gaze, and I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "..Felix, if you want cake, all you have to do was ask."

"I just thought that I'd try it again."

  
A little while later, we were strolling down the street, eating cake. I didn't miss the look of satisfaction as he ate his cake.

"This is much different than it was in Queensblade," he said. "The people hardly seem to notice I'm here, even though I attacked this city before."

"They've probably never seen you in person," I said. All they would have seen was Minidragons. "They're probably just glad that the attacks are over."

We kept walking for a while, walking along the harbor. It was getting dark, the moonlight glinting off the harbor. And without even realizing it, I felt his hand slip in mine. But I couldn't bring myself to let go.

"You know, you never did answer the question," I said.

"What do you mean, Liz?"

"About the Dragon of Time. Did you ever know him?"

"..I wouldn't say I knew him." He sighed. He reached down, patting Shu on his head as he spoke. "I only met him once, long before the war, back when the humans still trusted us." His eyes were distant as he told his story. "There was a grand festival in the human lands, when we gave the Goddess Crystals to the humans. Humans and magical creatures of all kinds gathered to celebrate the friendship between us and the humans.

“I still remember the young man trailing behind him, hanging onto his every word. Brightest blue hair I'd ever seen, and all the ladies were giggling when they saw him."

"The young man.. Are you talking about the First King?!"

"I believe his name was Siegfried?"

"That was him!"

"It's hard to believe that he could go on to found a kingdom," he said with a sigh. "Though I suppose I'm not one to talk, clumsy as I was back then.

"That night, I went out exploring; I wanted to explore the human lands. And I saw him there- terrifying and wonderful all at once. It was as though he was waiting for me."

There was a softness in his voice as he talked, a gentle look in his eyes. Even if what he was talking about was just a memory, I wanted to hear him talk like this forever. And I understood this strange way I had been feeling, why I wanted to stay by his side.

'..I think I'm falling for him.'

"He told me.. 'I am planning on sleeping for a very long time; one day, you will join me.. and what you seek will come back to you in time. Don't let your heart grow cold, and I shall not let mine."

He sighed. "I didn't understand what he meant at the time. How could anyone but him have known how everything would play out?"

"He sounds incredible," I said.

"He was," he said wistfully.

"Felix.." I chose my words carefully. "What do you think would happen if the Dragon of Time were to be awakened?"

He was quiet for a long, long moment. "There are some things.. that you have to be careful with," he said at last. "I awoke all alone, to find one friend gone and another locked away by the humans. My heart turned cold, and I vowed destruction- a vow that rippled across the timelines.

"If I had gotten what I wanted, Lacan would have joined me. But instead of flame and stone, he was awakened with song. And his heart is as full as ever." Shu happily chirped, and Felix turned to me. And suddenly I realized that he was really close, so close that I was staring directly into his eyes. And he leaned in closer, but I didn't want to pull away. "Even my heart.. You've managed to-"

"Hey you two!" I pulled away sharply as I heard the familiar voice. I looked up to see Lacan strolling towards us. "What are you two doing out here?"

"I was just, uh, shopping for the trip," I said, holding out my bag.

"Felix, are you all right?" Lacan asked. "Your face is all red."

"I'm.. fine, Lacan."

  
A few days later, we were supposed to meet at the Reciter household. I decided to pop by early.

Lacan answered the door this time. "Oh, you're here!” he said with a grin. “Come in, come in. I think that the others are still sleeping.”

"Would you like some cookies?" I offered as I walked inside.

"I'd love some!" He beamed as he took the cookies. "You know, I've been seeing a lot of you lately. You and Felix have been practically attached at the hip."

"Yeah, it was strange. He accompanied me on my errands yesterday. But I really enjoyed being with him."

"Well, it makes sense. He must have been really worried about you after what happened in Queensblade," he said off-handedly. "He told me that he wanted to keep you safe from Hawkeye."

"He did?" And suddenly it made sense why he had been constantly looking out, like he was watching out for someone. 'He was watching for Hawkeye. He was trying to protect me.' A warmth blossomed in my chest.

Lacan smiled. "You know, he's changed since meeting you. I don't think I've ever seen him care about a hum-"

"What are you telling her, Lacan?" I looked up to see Felix standing in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing, nothing!" Lacan said with a grin.

But my heart warmed as I looked upon his face. The man who had been protecting me. 'Felix, thank you..'

  
Ted: It was amazing to see all those Minidragons in class today. I've never seen a real one in person!

Lars:Who knew that they could fly like that? I wonder if Felix would be willing to summon them again?

Ted: What are you planning to do with them?

Lars: I was going to see if I could build robots in their shape! Wouldn't that be so cool? Then we could make them fly around the campus!

Ted: I think that would be even more destructive than the actual Minidragons!

Lars: Next time, Veda.


	10. Veda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can probably tell that I really want to go swimming in this chapter..

Caesar sighed as we settled down in the train. "Once again, we're coming to a beautiful resort on a mission. Why can't we ever come here for fun?”

"We used to come here all the time when we were younger," Alfonse said. "Klaus and Albert used to chase each other around the pool."

"I know!" Zeus proclaimed. “I'll tell you what, when the summer comes again, I'll take all of you to the resort for fun!" He looked at the three Reciters. "That includes the three of you!"

"Huh? You're inviting us?"

"Of course! You're part of the family now, aren't you?"

“That reminds me, I brought cookies for everyone!" I had made sure to make a lot for the trip. "Here, there's enough for everyone." As I passed out the little bags of cookies, I noticed Willem giving Felix a strange look, nudging him.

"I.. made cookies for the trip as well." Felix took out a small bag. "I asked Willem to help me make them. Someone told me it was a good way to bond."

Zeus didn't even hesitate, immediately holding out his hand. “Let me try!”

"Don't take all of them!" Caesar protested.

“I'd like to try one, Felix.” Felix handed me a cookie, and I took a bite. “This is delicious!”

"Thank you." The others quickly scrambled to take cookies for themselves; there was just enough for everyone. I even noticed Felix take a smaller one and giving it to Shu. "Wow, these are amazing!"

"..Thank you." Even if he didn't say it, I could tell he was happy.

  
By the time that we arrived at the gates of Veda, it was getting dark outside.

"What brings you here? We don't usually get so many guests at once."

'Will they notice Felix or Willem?' But the guards didn't even spare them a second glance, since they were in their casual outfits.

“We've been asked to investigate the mines of Veda,” Hugo said, handing a note to the guards. Luckily, when we explained the situation to Shezarade, she'd given us permission.

The guard scanned the note and handed it back. “Enjoy your stay."

We brushed past the gates, Felix letting out a sigh of relief.

"It's getting dark out," he said. "We should go to our rooms for now and then reconvene in the.." He stopped in his tracks, his expression turning cold. Willem and Lacan followed his gaze, their expressions growing stern. He stopped, hiding in the shadows of a pillar.

"What's going on..?" I looked over, and a once familiar man chatting with the guards.

"Liz," Felix said, "the last time I saw that man, it was when he sealed me away."

Oh.

'Schmidt.' The Wizard of Old. The last time I had been here, he had helped us. The last time I had been here, Felix had been our enemy. How times had changed since then.

"We should find another around," Willem said; Felix quickly pulled me away.

'I hope this doesn't cause any trouble..'

  
When I left the room that night, I found Felix waiting, gazing up at the sky.

"Couldn't sleep?"

I shook my head. "I thought I'd go for a stroll along the water.” My mind had been running wild with thoughts of how the visit would go. “Care to join me?"

As we walked, the water seemed to glow in the moonlight. And I heard familiar laughter ringing from the direction of the pools.

Walking over, we saw Willem and Lacan splashing in the pools together, Willem kicking water at Lacan.

"Ah, this feels so refreshing!" Lacan said. "Doesn't it remind you of the springs in the castle?"

"Huh? I don't think we ever saw those," I said as I came over.

"There was a lot more to the castle than what you saw," Felix said, taking a seat on the edge of the pool. "I think that you would have liked them. There were all sorts of magical creatures that would swim in the water with us.”

I couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds like so much fun!"

"At least until Willem would come along and drag us from the water," Lacan said with a laugh.

"I wasn't that bad! Besides, you would have stayed in all day and gotten terrible sunburns if I hadn't."

"Light is my element! I would have been fine. Felix, on the other hand.." Felix splashed water in his face for that one.

"Maybe someday, we can.." Felix had a wistful look on his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He shook his head.

I wanted to ask, but I had a feel this was something he'd tell me when he was ready. So for now, I sat next to him, dipping my feet in the water. “You said there were lots of magical creatures in the waters?” He nodded. “Will you tell me about them?”

  
It felt like we talked for hours. But, when I got back to my room, I saw a familiar face waiting outside my door.

"Schmidt! What are you doing here?"

His smile was sugary sweet. "I wanted to come by and pay a visit, when I heard you were staying here. But when I saw you with that man.." His eyes darkened. "I never thought I'd see the day Felix would turn your heart."

"Schmidt," I raised my chin as I faced him, "is it true that you were the one who sealed them away?" I remembered he had said something about them using his magic.

"My brethren and I did what we had to do," he said smoothly, that sickeningly sweet smile never leaving his lips. "They created terrible monsters, monsters that would have brought this world to ruin if we hadn't stopped them."

"They told me about the war." The words came pouring out of me before I could stop them. "They told me about everything that happened to them, about everything that you took from them..!"

His gaze flickered. "I just want to watch out for you. I'd hate to see you get hurt by them, like they did before."

'Why can't I speak?' There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to scream at him, but the words wouldn't come when I faced him.

"Things are different now," I managed to get out. "Felix and Willem.. They are our friends now. Felix saved my life!"

"A Dragonkin never changes, my dear. But it appears you have.”

He left me alone, but I found that I had a lot to think about that night, wishing that I could find the words to defend the ones I treasured.

  
We set out early the next morning. But I couldn't shake the strange feeling even as we approached the waterfall that had once served as Felix's base.

'Why do I get the feeling that someone is watching us?'

"This should be the quickest way to the last ruin," Felix said.

"How are we supposed to get through there?" Caesar asked. "Just walk through the water?"

"Well, this is a disappointing sight. To see that so many would fall to the Dragonkin.." My blood ran cold as I heard the familiar voice. I spun around to see Schmidt stepping out of the shadows, followed by people I didn't know.

'Don't tell me..' A chill ran down my spine. 'Are those the other Wizards of Old?'

"You followed us all the way here?!"

“Something needed to be done,” Schmidt said, walking over. Felix, Willem, and Lacan bristled behind me. “I couldn't stand back and let you hurt all these innocent people.”

“I won't let you hurt them!” I screamed, grabbing my wand.

"My dear, why are you still defending them? Are you forgetting about the trouble that they caused here before? You have seen the darkness in their hearts."

"And whose fault was that?!" I roared. "You are the one who took everything from them! That darkness was formed by the pain that you brought to them!"

With every word, I could feel something rising in me; the water churned behind me, lashing at us. I could hear their voices crying out, but all I could see was the man in front of me, the man stepping back in fear.

"This power..!"

"How long did they reach out to you? How long did they try to help you even when you hurt them? Until you were done, until you left them in the dark to rot! The only one here with a heart of darkness is you!"

Felix grabbed my hand. "We need to go," he said. I turned, and my heart almost stopped at the churning waves. "Let's go!"

"After them!"

We ran into the water- until the voices disappeared beyond the lashing waves.

  
"What was that?"

I let out a gasping breath as we stepped into the cavern, the raging waves closing behind us.

"The Goddess Crystal must have been resonating with Liz's emotions and affecting the waterfall," Willem said. "It should make it more difficult for Schmidt and his guards to come after us for a while."

Strong arms pulled me against a chest, and I instinctively knew it was Felix. My heart raced in his embrace. "Thank you, Liz, for defending me."

"Of course, I meant every word of it." I felt him press his face against my shoulder.

"Coming from you.."

"I know that your heart has changed. Because now you're.." The words caught in my throat. I couldn't just blurt out how I felt about him. "I.. I don't intend to let Schmidt hurt you. Or any of you." Willem and Lacan gave me grateful looks.

"We're not going to stand by and let them hurt you either!" Zeus roared. The others nodded.

"You're our friends now," Lucious said. "We don't let anyone hurt our friends." The others let out a cheer of agreement.

"Thank you."

Willem stood up a little straighter. "We should keep going," he said firmly. "We still don't know if Hawkeye is in this cave. Or if Schmidt is going to send anyone else after us."

  
As we stepped through the cavern, we came to the chamber full of water, though the tubes were now empty.

"This place still gives me the creeps.." Zeus muttered, avoiding the tanks of water.

"Everyone, get away from the doors. I'll spread miasma behind us; that ought to throw anyone off our trail for a little while."

We all took a good few steps away from the door, but, even still, my eyes watered at the miasma. 'His power is so strong!'

“There, we should be safe for a while. Now all that's left is to head into the ruin.” Felix snapped his fingers, changing back into his normal clothes; Willem followed suit.

And a thought occurred to me as I studied the cloning tubes. I remembered facing the clones before- so perfect, I couldn't tell which ones were real and which one were fake.

“Felix, you.. made the shadows that went into the clones, didn't you?” I remembered how he had been able to recall them easily.

“I did.”

“Do you think you could recreate those? Does the machine still work?”

Felix hesitantly glanced at them. “I think it should be able to work.” He paused for a moment. “..What are you planning?”

We had no idea how many members of Hawkeye were still out there, if they were following us, or where they may be. They would use tricks and schemes to get past us. But perhaps this would be a way to settle the score.

The others looked at me curiously. "What are you thinking?"

I smiled. "I think.. it's time we played a trick on Hawkeye."

  
Caesar: Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be the ones who get cloned..

Alfonse: I'm sure that this is going to be fine. Liz has a plan for what to do, doesn't she?

Caesar: I hope so. I mean, I'll do it, if it's what it takes to stop Hawkeye. As long as those clones don't linger around too much.

Alfonse: Let's hope..

Caesar: Next time, Into the Dark.


	11. Into the Dark

* * *

I turned to the others- who were now all at gaping at me.

“What are you planning, Liz?”

“We'll need people to throw Hawkeye off our trail. We can make clones of the ones who go into the ruin- or the ones who leave,” I explained. “Would you be willing to help us?”

“I never thought I'd be doing this.” To my surprise, Hugo stepped forward first.

“..I'll stay behind,” Lacan said suddenly.

“Lacan-”

He gave a bitter smile. “I'd not do well in the dark, Felix. Besides, someone needs to take care of things here.”

One by one, the others stepped forward, though they grimaced as the machine started. Something flickered across Lacan's face as he read it, but I wondered if I was just imagining it.

I couldn't just let Felix go on his own, into the dark. “I'm going with you.”

“You? ..Are you sure?” His expression wavered. “You'll be in the element of darkness.”

“I'm sure of it!” I said. “Besides, you'll need my powers as the Goddess of Time, if Hawkeye should intervene.”

“..All right, let's go.”

In the end, it was decided that me, Felix, Lucious, Zeus, Hiro, and Willem would head into the ruins together.

Once we stepped through the eeiry rooms of the cloning facility, the walls soon turned to marble.

"I remember this," I said, tracing my hand over the wall. "I think I saw this road when we came to the mines before." Even still, the gleaming walls were an impressive sight.

"They run all throughout this mountain," Felix said. "Although I admit, it has been a long time since I've continued down this path to the heart.”

"Should we be on the lookout for traps?" Lucious asked.

"..That would be a smart idea. I'll send some minidragons to scout ahead of us. Step back." He raised his hands, letting the darkness pour out. In a minute, the dragons scampered on ahead of us, and we followed on after them. I could hear their voices yipping ahead of us.

"Felix,” I asked carefully, “are you sure that this isn't putting too much of a strain on your magic?" He was already powering the clones from his own pool of magic.

"This is nothing, Liz," he said breezily as he continued along. "It would take a much greater force to put a strain on my magic. Besides, we are in my element. This will be no trouble at all."

But I wondered if I was missing a slight flinch as we continued into the darkness.

The darkness grew as we walked through the temple, and once again I found that eiry feeling that we were being watched.

'Cordelia wouldn't be following us all the way here, would she?' I thought. No, according to Lacan, her element had been light; even she would have trouble following us this far. 'Now's not the time to get worried. We have Felix at our side.'

My gaze fell to the walls. I could just make out writing on the wall, just like the previous ruins, though I couldn't read the words.

"Hey, Felix," I asked, "if you don't mind me asking, what does this say?"

"I was curious about that too," Hiro said, eying the walls. "Does it tell the story of the Dragonkin like the other one?"

"..Something like that." He lifted his head, studying the walls. "It's more like a record of our lives. People would come in just to paint.. just to make a memory on the walls. Sometimes it was just as simple as signing their names."

A record of their lives..

"Felix and I used to come here all the time," Willem said happily. "Time and darkness has worn this place away, but it was once a place of splendor. We would chase each other through the hall and play with the Minidragons, even though the others would tell us not to."

"I remember," Felix said, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

I kept my eyes on the walls as we walked through, and I wondered what it must have been like, back when this place was full of life- and light.

I wondered, if I could read the words, would I be able to find their names among them?

"You've got to be kidding me.."

A giant wall of rocks blocked our path. "The ground must be unstable here," Felix said. “It would be better for us to get through them quickly.”

Lucious knelt before the rocks, prodding at them. "It almost looks like there's a hole here. Almost big enough for something small to crawl through. If we could send someone to the other side.."

Zeus laughed. "Great, you should be able to fit no problem!"

"You...!"

Felix and Willem exchanged an uneasy look. "You know," Willem said, "it would be just about the right size for-"

"I think that you would be a much better match for it," Felix said hurriedly.

“Oh, Felix, you know how poor I am at transformation magic,” Willem said playfully. “You always were much better than me.”

"..Fine." With a puff of smoke, Felix turned into the Slightly Off Taffy and walked up to the hole in the wall. To their credit, Zeus and the others tried to hold back their snickering.

"Felix, can you see anything on the other side?" I asked, walking up as he disappeared through the wall.

"There's a clear path ahead of us; that should be the line to the heart of the ruins. Stand back, and I should be able to knock through the walls."

"Hey, wait a minute-" We quickly scrambled back; in an instant, the rocks were blasted away, leaving a giant gaping hole- and a tiny plushie waiting for us.

“Tada!”

Zeus shivered. “..Remind me not to get on his bad side.”

"Oh, come on, this is a dead end!"

"I was sure that this was the right way," Felix said. "I can feel that the gem's presence is nearby."

"Perhaps there's a secret door then?" Lucious asked, stepping forward. "Or something that we need to go through."

"Watch out!" A barrage of arrows came flying out of the dark; Willem quickly raised a barrier to block it, shielding Lucious.

"It looks like we're going to have to be careful." Felix reached out, tapping the stones with his feet. “There are probably a lot of traps in these halls.”

Zeus, Lucious, and Hiro shared a glance and smirked. “Leave it to us! We can handle this!”

As we went through the temple, we encountered traps of all sorts, but Felix swept through them easily, clearing away the rocks and debris- or Zeus, Lucious, and Hiro handled it with ease.

Soon, the darkness was growing thicker, until I could only just make out the writing on the wall. "We must be getting closer.."

"Watch your step, Liz," Felix told me, taking my hand. "The ground is only getting rougher here-" But scarcely had the words left his lips than did his foot catch on something- sending him plummeting to the ground-

"Watch out!" I just barely managed to catch his arm before he fell. His eyes widened, and I realized I was suddenly nose to nose with him, staring right into his eyes.

"Thank you. I guess I should be more careful." He got to his feet, moving along. But my heart wouldn't stop racing.

I kept my eye on Felix as we proceeded through the ruins. 'Okay, he's definitely starting to slow down..' Felix was starting to stumble on the stones more and more.

"Felix, I think that you need to rest," I said firmly. “You're using up too much of your magic.”

"I'm fine," he said. "The sooner that we can get through this place, the better." In the dark, I could make out the others exchanging weary looks.

He must have been expending more and more of his magic. He was going to run out before we even got too much farther.

Only one thing for it."Well then, I think I need to take a rest," I said. "This darkness is starting to sap my energy."

"..Very well. I suppose we could stop for a few minutes." He stopped, leaning against the stones. The others let out a sigh as they plopped down on the ground around us with a sigh.

"This is taking more out of me than I thought," Zeus said, wiping his brow.

"Oh! I think I still have some of those cookies from earlier." I took out the little bag from my peram, holding them out to Felix. "Here."

Felix quietly took the cookie from me. Even Zeus didn't seem to protest this time, as if sensing that he needed them more.

"..This is delicious," Felix said quietly. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'll be happy to make something for you any time you want, when we get out of here." And if it helped him to rest a little, all the better.

Still, the darkness grew thicker as we continued down the path, and we once again came to a branching path.

"..Felix, do you remember which way it was?" Willem asked, and Felix shook his head. In the darkness, it seemed as though he was paler than usual. "Then it might be best to split up again."

"I'll go with you, Felix." I wanted to keep an eye on Felix. And I felt his hand tightening in mine, as if to say 'thank you'.

And then it was just me and Felix, walking through the darkness alone- the darkness growing until I couldn't see anything in front of my face, until the only feeling that I knew was the rough cavern floor and Felix's hand in mine.

"Liz?" Felix's voice called out. "I.. I would like to hear your voice."

"What should I talk about?"

"I don't care. Anything," he said. "I just.. I just need to know that I'm not alone in this darkness anymore."

"Oh." Oh. And suddenly it was becoming clear why Felix had been acting this way, practically rushing us through this place. "This darkness is.. really getting to you, hasn't it?"

"More than I'd care to say," he said; I felt his hand tightening in mine.

I needed to do something to help him, a way for him to hear my voice, even if it was just a little.

I started to hum, the song that had always brought me such comfort, the song that Shu would sing for me.

His voice was distant as he spoke. “I have spent so long in this darkness.. screaming in the dark, for anyone to find me, hatred and pain festering inside me.. until I never thought I'd see the light. Until I'd forgotten everything but that pain, until I'd forgotten who I was-"

He laughed, harsh and bitter, echoing through the cavern. "And then I was thrust into the light. I was given another chance, to stand in the sun. Someone gave me a chance. I thought.. I thought I could put that fear behind me. But suddenly, I find myself thrust into that darkness once again, as though.." He laughed, shaking his head.

"Was it all a dream? Am I just talking to myself? Was it all nothing more than just a foolish, hopeless dream?"

I had to do something. I grabbed his face, turning him to face me. I could see a strange light in his eyes. "Felix, it's all right to be afraid. I'm here for you; I won't leave you.”

  
  


"Afraid.. I'm afraid. Afraid that everything could be taken away from me again. I'm afraid that you will be taken from me, Liz."

"Felix.." My heart tightened as I heard his pained words.

"I want to protect you," he said firmly. "More than I understand. With you.. I feel like I can start to dream of a new future. But this new life feels so fragile. I feel like Hawkeye or the Wizards of Old could take you away from me again- that all of it could fade away-"

I'd watched him suffer for so long, and I couldn't stand aside and see the man that I loved suffer any longer.

"Felix, I'm here." Even if I could no longer see his face, I could hear his voice, feel his hand in mine, I knew that we were here. And suddenly, the words came pouring out me. "Felix, I'm here with you. And no matter what happens, we're going to stand together. Hawkeye and the Wizards of Old can come for us, but it doesn't matter. We're stronger now. Whatever happens, we'll stand together, all right?"

"Liz.." He smiled, pressing his forehead against mine. "I want to stand with you. I want to stay with you." He met my eyes with certainty, and I felt it, the words that he could not say. I knew in my heart that he felt the same as I.

"I'll stay with you," I said. "I promise." I leaned in-

And I found myself pressing up against something. When I looked up, in the darkness, I could make out an intricate door. "..What is this?"

"It looks like we're here," he said with a slight laugh. "We made it through the darkness after all." He took my hand.

"Should we wait for the others?"

"I don't think they'll mind if we wait inside." Felix pulled down his hood, his horns glowing. The door opened, revealing an intricate chamber.

"This feels like the first one," I said, glancing over my shoulder. "..You don't suppose they're hiding here, do you?"

"I doubt it; they would need my magic to get in," he said. He seemed more at ease in this chamber, strolling up to the throne at the center. "Would you like to see the gem?"

"Of course!" I ran to his side. He knelt down, scooping up the gem. The gem was as black as night, the size of a pomegranate, glowing in the darkness. "It's beautiful.."

"This is the heart of this place, the gem of darkness," he said.

"It glows like you do." The words tumbled out of my mouth, and he looked at me in surprise. "I mean.."

"Thank you," he said with a smile. The darkness seemed to fade as he stood up.

"..Hey, Felix?" Something occurred to me. "Are we going to have to walk all the way back through the darkness again?" Hard enough the first time, but I felt sick even thinking about it now.

"The darkness should fade once we take the stone out of the chamber," he said. His expression turned serious. "However, that will make it easier for Hawkeye to catch up with us."

'I hope that the others are doing well,' I thought. 'I wonder what they're up to right now..'

"Ugh, that was a nightmare!" a voice boomed from the doorway. A moment later, Zeus staggered into the room, the others trailing behind him. Willem was supporting Lucious's shoulder as they walked into the room. "I'm never doing that again."

"Perhaps we should have saved those cookies for the way back," Felix said with a slight laugh that sent my heart racing. I couldn't help but join him in laughter.

"What do you mean the way back?!"

Zeus: I can't believe that we're going to have to walk all the way back, after all of that!

Lucious: At least we won't have to walk through the darkness again. That was way too creepy for my tastes.

Zeus: I guess you have a lot of experience walking through a dark and creepy place, don't you?

Lucious: Did you have to bring that up? Now it's going to make the journey back even worse! Let's just get out of here..

Zeus: Next time, The Battle.


	12. The Battle

* * *

Felix stopped in his tracks. “Something's wrong.”

“Felix?”

He bolted towards the cloning facilty; I took off after him.

******

My heart dropped as we entered the cloning facility. Broken glass was scattered through the room. Lacan crumpled to his knees, shadows wavering behind him, struggling to hold back the forces around them. Cordelia strolled in, surrounded by strange figures in hooded robes.

'Those can't be,' I thought, freezing, 'are those the other Wizards of Old?!'

"Lacan!" Felix rushed to his side.

"Well, so it appears that we've finally drawn you out of hiding. I was wondering if you'd abandon the one that you hold so dear."

"How dare you!” Felix snarled.

Schmidt stepped forward, never losing his sickeningly sweet smile. "So it's come to the Wizards of Old versus the Dragonkin once again. The Goddess Crystal is within our grasp. Perhaps it is time for a second sealing?"

"Of course,” Cordelia said sweetly, “we could be lenient if you were to hand over the gem.”

“I think you're missing something really important,” I snarled, pulling out my wand. “A thousand years ago, you sealed them away with the power of the Goddess Crystal. But now the one who carries the Goddess Crystal is me!”

"Willem, Lacan, are you ready to do this?" Felix asked, helping Lacan to his feet. I could feel their resolution even as they were surrounded.

"Sanatio Aura!" I shot out a blast of light at Cordelia, but she side-stepped it, as easily as a dance. Lacan's power joined mine, a blast of light into the crowd.

"Keep going, Liz!" Felix raised his palm, whisking together a swirl of darkness, flinging it into the group. They scattered, falling away-

And blasts of darkness erupted from all around us!

"What?! How could there be so much dark power in one place?"

"Oh, you haven't figured it out yet?" Felix said. "For someone who spent so long fighting the shadows I created, you think you would be able to tell when you're facing one!"

"This is dangerous," Schmidt snarled, "we need to get out of here!"

"One last attack ought to do it," Felix said. “Ready?” All three of their horns glowed at once, forming a massive sphere of light and darkness, colors flashing unlike anything I'd ever seen- aiming straight for Cordelia!

  
  


She laughed as she sidestepped it, the attack sinking into the wall behind her. "Is that all you got?! The might of the three Reciters- and you missed!"

Felix smiled. "Who says we were aiming for you?"

The cavern started to shake, rocks falling from the ceiling.

"To think that you'd sink so low.. You'd destroy your own ruin?" Cordelia snarled, stepping back. Already, the Wizards of Old were fleeing, leaving the ruin and Dragonkin behind.

'I guess they decided it wasn't worth the risk after all,' I thought.

"Cordelia, you're forgetting something very important. If this ruin goes, your precious gem goes with it!" Felix flashed the gem in his hand. "If you want it, come and get it!" Felix darted into the dark of the cavern.

'What is he thinking?!' Something lurched within me as I saw him take off, knowing the walls were rumbling overhead. 'I won't let him do this alone!'

"Liz!" I felt Felix's hand in mine. "You have to go, this place is falling apart!"

"I won't leave this place without you!"

We ran into the dark, until everything disappeared behind a wall of stone.

*****

I leaned against the wall, gasping for air as we stopped. "Do you think that she's still following us?"

"I would think so. She wouldn't stop at anything until the gem is in her hand." Felix grinned. "I wonder how long it will take for her to realize she's chasing after the wrong Reciter?"

"Huh? What do you..?” He raised his hand, showing the gem. At first glance, it did appear to be similar, but it didn't seem to have the same glow as the other one.

"I slipped the real stone to Lacan when I helped him up," he said with a grin. "But as far as Cordelia knows, we're the ones with it."

“ _Felix!_ Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! What if she goes after Lacan or Willem?"

"I know that those two will be fine," he said. "They're Dragonkin Reciters, and they'll be even stronger together.”

He looked over his shoulder. "..We should get going. It won't be long before Cordelia catches up with us."

"Where are we going?" I followed closely behind him, holding onto his robes.

"There should be a back way out of these mines," he said. "Hopefully we can slip away and leave Cordelia in the dust."

“Felix..” A thought occurred to me. “Are you sure about this? With all this damage, the ruin will..”

“I know. When we leave this place, it'll be unlikely anyone will be able to return. But that is the risk I'm willing to take. That we were all willing to take. As long as the three of us are together, the story of the Dragonkin will live on.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As we walked, the weariness was starting to wash over me. 'We've done a lot of walking in one day,' I thought. 'But Felix doesn't seem to even be tired. I can't lose focus now.'

He looked back at me. "Are you tired?"

"I'm fine," I said, trying to brush it off, but he came closer.

"You've been running a lot today; it's no wonder you're exhausted. Would you like for me to carry you?"

"I.." Well, when he put it like that. "All right."

He scooped me up in his arms, as easily as could be. He didn't break stride as he carried me, and I felt the blood rush to my face. 'He's carrying me like a bride!'

"Felix, aren't you exhausted? You've been running around just as much as I have, and you've been using up more magic than anyone today."

"I'm fine," he said. "Carrying the gem of darkness was able to replenish my magic a little. Besides, I can't rest when I have someone to protect."

“Y-you can't just say that so easily!” He really was almost like a knight in shining armor for me.

He carried me through the darkness a while in silence, but it was a comfortable silence.

But even still, my mind was racing. 'We've obtained two of the gems so far,' I thought. 'Who knows if they even carry the other two?'

"What a sickeningly sweet sight."

The voice sent chills down my spine. I turned to see Cordelia staggering down the pathway towards us.

"Stay back, Cordelia," Felix said, setting me on my feet. "You are out of your element. There's nothing you can do against us."

"Do you think that I'm afraid of you?” she snapped. “A dragonkin who bows before a human? The mighty reciter who set the world aflame- who stoops so low that you're protecting a human now?"

"Better than the one who can only steal from others," he said, raising his hand. “You've used your trickery against us time and time again, but your tricks end here.”

“Oh, like you're one to talk! You pulled a pretty nasty trick back there. Not to mention, back in the Crystal Cavern! Sending that man after us-”

“..What are you talking about?”

“The man who caused the rockslide! But I don't see him among your ranks now. Did you get rid of him when he was no longer useful to you?”

A chill ran down my spine at her voice. 'Could she be talking about..?'

But something caught my eye as she came near us- a red gem glittering at her throat. I would recognize it anywhere. 'The gem of fire!'

“This is your last chance, Cordelia, give up now.”

"Do you think I'd stoop that low?" she said. "Do you think that I would give up when we're closer than ever? No matter what we do.." She limped towards me.

"Suit yourself." Felix raised his hand, swirling together a whisk of darkness- and aimed it at the ceiling.

And one thought seized me, making me lurch forward towards her. 'The gem- I have to get the gem-'

I reached out to grab it from her as the rubble fell-

"Liz!" 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Ugh..' I slowly sat up, coughing up the dust in my lungs.

And when I opened my eyes, I saw Cordelia sprawled out on the ground unconscious.

'The rubble must have knocked her out,' I thought. I reached down and undid her necklace, prying out the red gem.

I slowly stood up, looking around, and my heart sank. Felix was nowhere to be seen- and when I looked up, all I saw was a wall of stone.

'No.. no..' I was foolish. I had rushed at her, and we had gotten separated in my haste. 'There has to be something I can try to get out of here.' I raised my wand, summoning all my strength- but no blast of magic was strong enough.

'What if I'm stuck here? What if I never see Felix again?' I thought, my heart sinking. 'I never got to tell him that I..'

"Liz!" My heart raced as I heard his voice calling from the other side of the wall. "Liz, are you there?"

"I'm here!"

'Thank goodness..' He was here, he was right next to me, just on the other side of the wall. If I could just get through, I could see him again. 'I have to get through there! I have to get back to him so I.. I can be with him again.' 

"Do you have enough magic for a barrier? I can blast the rock apart with my magic."

“I think I do.”

"Stand back." I quickly raised a barrier- just in time to feel the darkness graze the barrier. And then he was all I saw, the only one who mattered. I rushed to him, throwing myself into his arms.

"You're here! Felix, you came back for me!"

"I'm so glad that you're all right." I felt his arms tighten around me. "When those rocks fell and you weren't there, I thought that.. I'd lost you!"

"I'm sorry.."

He lifted my chin as he looked into my eyes, and suddenly he was so close that my heart was racing. But I didn't want to pull away. "I never thought that I'd care about a human like this," he said. "To have someone I would be afraid to lose, someone that I wanted to protect more than anything. And now I understand what these feelings are."

My heart was racing as I looked into his eyes, that warmth blossoming in my chest, like I never wanted that moment to end.

"I'm in love with you, Liz. I know that now."

"I love you too."

And I suddenly realized where I was. Even if we were in love, we were still stuck in this cavern, and it wouldn't be long before Cordelia came to. "Felix, we should get out of here. Do you know the way out of here?"

"Right; we shouldn't be far now." Once again, he lifted me up in his arms.

"Hey, that's okay, I can walk..!"

"Just let me carry you like this for a little while longer, all right?" he said with such a playful smile that sent me heart racing.

'No fair, that's cheating.'

"All right."

And together, we stepped out of the cavern- and into the light.

Willem: After a long road, we've finally reached an end. I'm a little sad to see it go.

Elias: But the battle may only be just beginning. Hawkeye is still out there, and there's still two more gems left to find.

Willem: But for now, Liz and Felix's story is coming to an end. What awaits them in the light?

Elias: Find out next time in A New Future.


	13. Unhappy Ending

I still remember laughing as we walked into the town. "It should be just around here," Felix said as he set me on my feet. "I wonder what the others will say when they see us-"

And the world came to a screeching halt.

The city lie in ruins- scorched to cinders. People fled from the wreckage of what was left.

"Who.. who could have done this?" I asked. "We were only gone for.."

Felix moved forward mechanically. “We need to help them,” he said. "We need to find the survivors and get them out of here."

What was important now was helping these people. Everything else would come later.

  
Over and over, I cast my spell, helping whoever I could, whoever we could find, until it became mechanical, all I could do.

I was vaguely aware of Felix moving around me as I worked, gathering supplies or escorting others out of the town.

I tried not to let my mind turn to my friends. 'Please,' I thought, 'please let the others be okay.' Had they made it out of this town? The alternative was.. unthinkable.

"There they are!" My blood ran cold as I heard the familiar voice. Soldiers surrounded us- Schmidt and Daniel standing at their helm.

"I tried to stop them," Daniel said, tears in his eyes. "But they came in here with a thousand soldiers and scorched this place to cinders."

"He's wrecked havoc in this town before," Schmidt said. "I thought that we had found help, but.."

They were trying to blame Felix for this?! I couldn't just stand aside! "No, he's not the one who did this!" I cried, bolting to my feet. “Hawkeye is the one who attacked this time!”

"Well then, where were you when this town was destroyed?"

The words caught in my throat. 'Saying that we were in the mines wouldn't help our case.'

"Take him away," Daniel commanded. The guards surrounded Felix, grabbing his arms.

"Let me go!" he screamed, fighting against them with all his might. Darkness gathered in his hand-

"I won't let you take him away!" I whipped out my wand, but then their blades were pointed at my throat.

"Now you understand how they could have done it," Daniel sneered. "When even the Goddess of Time stands at his side." Felix went limp in their arms.

"..Liz," he said, "don't come after me."

"What are you saying?!"

"If you get involved, they'll blame you too!" I froze. "You have to find the others; prove that I'm innocent!" I saw desperation in his eyes.

'He's trying to protect me. We're outnumbered. And if we both get arrested, we can't help anyone.' I couldn't find the words to speak.

“Take him away.”

He looked over his shoulder as the guards dragged him away. 'Felix, no matter what, I will clear your name!'

As they left, I saw something glimmer on Daniel's wrist- a gem as red as fire.


	14. Normal Ending

That night, I turned over the gem in my hand, burning red in the firelight.

'I should be grateful that everyone is safe,' I thought, 'but I still can't help but wonder if I'm dealing with the real deal.'

I felt arms wrap around me, Felix resting his chin on my shoulder. "Is everything all right?"

"Felix, do you think that you could check if this is the real gem?"

"Of course." He took the gem from my hand, his horns glowing black. He fell quiet, but one look at his expression told me everything.

"She tricked us," I said. How foolish I was just to assume that it was Albert's gem just because it was red. 'Perhaps that was what Cordelia wanted us to think.'

"Hey, Liz." I relaxed as he touched my hair. "I know that this is disappointing, but it's not so bad. No matter what, we've still secured two of the gems, and everyone is safe and sound."

"You're right." Despite everything, we had made it out of the darkness alive. "I guess that is a blessing."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah, it feels so good to be back!" Zeus said as we walked out of the Headmaster's office, after giving a report. "I say that this calls for a party in the Night Cafe!”

"It feels like it's been a while since we've had a party," Caesar said with a grin. "Count me in!"

"Yeah, I think that could be fun," I said, turning to Felix. "Do you want to come with?"

"Well, I suppose if you're going, it couldn't hurt."

"Sweet! We'll call the others, we'll turn this into a real party!"

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As we came to the cafe, Felix quickly took a seat on the couch, changing into his casual outfit again. Even though he had been hesitant, I could see a smile playing on his lips.

After a while, others started to file into the Night Cafe. "Heeey, Felix!" We heard laughter as a blur launched into his arms, laughing all the while. I saw that it was the Nidhogg, grinning wildly. "I was wondering when you'd come back!"

Familiar faces started coming into the Night Cafe, including a few rare ones. "It seems this is the place where everyone is gathering," Light said as he came in.

"I heard that there was a party going around!" Randy popped his head into the Night Cafe, Taffy trailing after him.

"Oh, Randy, good to see you!"

"Hmm? What's this?" Felix's attention fell to Taffy. "What's this little creature? I don't know if I've seen you before, but you look.. familiar."

"This is Taffy! He's my familiar!"

"I thought that you all of people would have met Taffy." I noticed that Willem was avoiding his gaze, his face burning red.

'Did he not tell him?'

"Here, Felix, do you want something to drink?" he asked, practically shoving a glass in his face.

“Hmm?” Felix cautiously sipped at the drink. "Mhmm, this tastes good!" He smiled brightly. "So, Nidhogg, I've been learning about all of these wonderful things while I've been traveling."

His smile seemed to grow brighter as he talked. "Liz showed me this thing called cake! It's wonderful!"

Something didn't feel right. I turned to Willem. “What on earth did you give him?”

"A drink that was.. over there." Willem gestured vaguely over at the tables.

"I think that might have been Red Drunkard!" Oh no. Alfonse was bad enough, but it would be quite the sight to see if Felix got drunk-

"Hey, Felix," I said, rushing over, "how about you hand over the drink? I'll get you something else-"

"Oh, Liz, when did you get here?" he asked with a smile that sent my heart racing, wrapping his arms around me. "Nidhogg, this is my girlfriend, Liz, isn't she wonderful?" He paused. “Waitaminute, are we dating?”

And suddenly there was a puff of white smoke. And when I looked down, I saw that he had turned back into his Slightly Off Taffy form!

"You look just like Taffy!" Taffy cooed.

"Oh dear." I quickly scooped him up in my arms. “I'm so sorry about this!”

The Nidhogg laughed. "It looks like I'm not the only one with a miniature form!"

“Hey, Lacan,” Zeus said with a laugh, “can you do that?”

"Huh?!" Light's jaw dropped. It was a rare sight to see that the cool and calm Light was caught off-guard. "Then that little plushie that followed me around was you?!"

  
  


Oh, whoops. "I'm sorry, Light,” I said, “I probably should have told you earlier." To be fair, there had been quite a lot going on that day.

He hung his head. "To think that I could be fooled so thoroughly.."

"He really fooled all of us."

"I found my friend!" Felix said, nuzzling against me. But I had to admit, seeing him sweetly smiling was very cute.

"Perhaps I should be getting him back home," I said.

"Home? We're going home?"

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had brought him back to his house without incident, but I decided to stay in my cabin for the night to make sure that he was doing all right.

The next morning, I heard a knock on my door.

“Liz, are you there?” When I answered the door, Felix was holding his head. "..I did something really dumb last night, didn't I?"

"It's not your fault," I reassured him. "It was an accident."

"I know, Willem already apology profusely for it," he said. "He also told me who that strange creature was. Taffy, was it?" I nodded. "To think that I was copying a creature that I didn't even know about..”

“Here, come inside. I'll fix something for you.” He took a seat at my kitchen table, and I went to the kitchen. "I will admit, the party was fun though."

“It was. It feels like it's been a long time since I've been able to relax like that among friends. It reminds me of how much I have now. Much more than I realized." I didn't miss the small smile on his lips.

"I'm glad to hear it," I said, dropping a kiss on his forehead. Together, we built a new home in this place. I hoped we could share many more days of light together.


	15. Happy Ending

And soon, we were back on campus, standing in the Headmaster's office.

"The trip to Veda was a success,” Felix reported, holding out the stone. “As you can see, we have obtained the gem of darkness.”

“While keeping the gem of light safe!” Lacan flashed his gem.

“And I have taken back the gem of fire,” I said.

"Unfortunately, Hawkeye still has their hands on the Earth Crystal," Willem said. "It's still unclear how we'd get it back."

“You've obtained three of the six gems,” Randolph said gently. “As long as they are kept safe, Hawkeye cannot awaken the Dragon of Time. Good work.”

Even with his gentle praise, I still felt nervous. 'This isn't over yet. Who knows what Hawkeye will try to do next?'

"In the coming weeks, there will be a grand ball at the royal palace," Schuyler said. "It might be a good chance to meet with the nobles and ask about the gems."

"A ball?" I had attended parties with Albert or with Klaus, but this would be completely different. But the image wouldn't leave my mind. Wearing a beautiful gown, descending a grand staircase, dancing with Felix at my side.. It wouldn't be so bad. "That sounds like it could be," I caught myself, "a good opportunity."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah," Zeus grinned as we left the Headmaster's office, "a mission success! I say that this calls for a party!"

Caesar laughed. "Sounds fun to me! Count me in!"

"What about you three?" Zeus asked.

"Not for me, thank you," Felix said. "I think I'd prefer a quiet night at home.”

Willem and Lacan agreed. “Maybe we can play some board games, like old times.”

Felix turned to me. “You can join us, if you like.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willem and Felix had already cleared a space in the living room when we came in. We settled down around the board, and I felt a familiar presence at my side. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"N-no, not at all." He settled down right next to me, so close that I could feel his warmth next to me. But truth be told, it didn't feel.. bad.

'To think that I'd get to spend time with him like this now..' The thought made me want to giggle. 'Well, we did confess to each other.'

"So," Lacan said cheerfully as he got the pieces together, "who confessed first?"

"H-huh?" My face went red.

"Well, it's obvious that something happened between you, and well, Felix has been-" Felix gave him a look, "ah, if you don't want to.."

"Felix confessed to me, actually," I said. "When we were in the mines." Felix's arm wrapped around me. "Everything just kind of happened."

"Ah, congratulations! You make a lovely couple!" Lacan said cheerfully.

"You really do." I bowed my head, but I couldn't hide my smile.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We played for a while, going over various games.

“Felix, there's something I should tell you,” Lacan said as he settled down. “When we were in the cloning facility, I didn't.. flee right away. There was something I had to check. Cordelia touched the machine, and I..”

“Lacan! You'd risk so much for that?”

“What? I don't understand, what about the machines?”

Felix sighed. “..The machines can only read human Dna,” he said. “Even a little non-human dna would throw off the machines and be unable to create a clone. Otherwise, my plans back then would have turned out versy different.”

Oh. “Then, you wanted to see if Cordelia was a Dragonkin?” Lacan nodded.

"So?" Felix fixed his gaze on Lacan. Even if he said he didn't care about it, I could sense hesitation in his voice.

"She's human," Lacan said. "Completely." Felix let out a sigh of relief. "But there was something else that I noticed when I was reading the machines-" He leaned over to whisper something in Felix's ear. "..You noticed it too, didn't you?"

"..I see."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" And I remembered something. Back when we had been in the caverns, how many shadows had I seen? I had seen clones of Lucious and Caesar, Alfonse and Zeus, but there was one missing. "..Felix, do you think-"

"I'm not sure," he said, meeting my eyes. "But.. even if he is, I doubt that would be something that he wants to hear from me."

"There must be.. a thousand other reasons why it wouldn't be able to read his dna," I said at last. For all I knew, it could have fallen under complications of time traveling.

"I'm sure."

We played late into the night until I could barely keep my eyes open.

"I think that I should be getting home," I said, gathering my things.

"I'll walk you out," Felix said, following me out the door.

We lingered at the door. It would feel strange going back to my dorm. Even something as mundane as playing board games, I had had so much fun with him. I didn't want to leave.

"I had a wonderful time tonight," I said, turning to face him. "Thank you for having me over."

"Thank you for coming." He looked at me seriously. "Liz, there is.. someplace that I've been wanting to go. The next time you have a free day, will you come with me?"

"Of course. I have a free day tomorrow, actually, if you want." He nodded.

"Liz." I looked up, and he seemed.. unexpectedly bashful, shifting his feet. He placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. He pulled away with a sweet smile. "See you tomorrow."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I felt like I was walking on air, back to the dorms, humming all the while. So much so that I almost missed a familiar presence behind me.

“You shouldn't feel complacent. This battle is far from done.”

I spun around. Sure enough, there he was. _Vain._ “I was wondering when you'd show yourself. Are you planning to fight Felix again?”

“I will not take him from you,” he said coolly. “Not while a new threat is on the rise.”

“Have you been chasing Hawkeye on your own?” I asked. “If you had told us, we could have worked together-”

“I do not need your help,” he said. “Hawkeye will use trickery to get what they desire; it's better not to be open with them.” That was right. They had tricked us into destroying the ruin- and then had attacked me to get the gem.

“Vain, you.. followed us into the Crystal Cavern, didn't you?” His expression was unreadable. “Were you the one who caused that rockslide?”

"It was by chance that you and Felix ended up on the opposite side of that wall. If my plan had worked, no one would have been able to access the gem. Human or Dragonkin.”

I stopped the question on my tongue. 'Your magic shouldn't have worked.' I knew that he wouldn't have answered me anyway. He never did.

"You must be careful. There are many more members of Hawkeye still lingering out there, lying in wait. They won't be stopped because you've stopped one of their number."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving me to wonder.

********

Two figures moved in the shadows, in a place that had once been a temple.

"You failed your mission. The gem of fire was right there, and it slipped through your fingers."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You're lucky that I was there to rescue you from that rockslide, Dahlia," the other said. "But I won't give another chance. You better not fail me next time."

"I won't."

*******

Felix was already waiting for me by the time I arrived in the village, Shu in tow. He smiled as he saw me.

"I hope that you don't mind that I'm bringing Shu."

"Not at all." He reached out, scratching under the little dragon's chin. "I think he'd like it."

"So, where are we headed?"

He was quiet for a moment. "..I want to go back to the Castle in the Sky. I haven't visited since we awakened Lacan, and even then it was only briefly. But something's been telling me it's important that I go back; if it's all right with you, I'd like you to come with me."

Oh. Of course. I knew how many memories the castle had held for him. Once upon a time, it had been his home- and then it had served as his prison. But I knew that seeing it would be painful for him. "Of course I'll go with you."

He smiled, more nervous than he let on. "Thank you."

“Will you be able to transport the three of us by yourself?”

“I should be able to,” he said. “Besides, the gem of darkness has increased my magic some.” The magical circle glowed at his feet.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And just like that, we were back, in the Castle in the Sky. Shu chirped happily, flapping his wings as he flew through the air.

Felix hesitated as he walked forward. "..It's different then what I remember." He looked up at the castle, seeing it again for the first time with fresh eyes, seeing the place that once been his home, looking deeply at the crumbling walls, at what was left of the garden. "Has.. it always been like this?"

"We can turn back, if you want. You don't have to do this."

"No. I want to." He gave a bitter smile as he took my hand. "It'll be just like exploring another ruin, won't it?"

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was strange to be walking through the castle again, down the dark hallways. I half-expected to see a ghoul or a ghost jumping at me at every turn, but it was just me, Felix, and Shu walking down the halls.

Felix's eyes seemed to light up as we walked through the rooms, showing me each place within the halls.

He took me to a room with wide open arches; a long table stretched through the halls. "Is this the dining hall? I thought that Dragonkin didn't need to eat."

"Some of them chose to indulge in it. But this is also where we'd feed the magical creatures," he said, smiling sweetly. "I used to prepare food for dragons in here." He walked into the kitchen. "I think that we've still got some treats for dragons in here." He stopped, looking bashful. "I doubt Shu would want them though, they're probably.. really old by now."

"And here is the training hall," he said. "This is where we'd train all the little Dragonkins." If I tried, I could picture them all lining up, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

He turned around, observing the room. "..You know, this is the place where I met Willem and Lacan." He walked through the room, his eyes distant. "All of us would gather in here for lessons, to learn about our magic. I was so eager to show off my magic, when it came to my turn. I created a huge blob of magic- and.. put it right through the wall."

He walked up to the wall; I could see scorch marks on it. "Just as I thought, they're still there. All back from where I was learning how to train my magic. I made quite a mess of it, back then."

I couldn't help but smile at the image. 'He must have been so adorable..'

"I can still remember. There were still stars swirling around my head when a young boy with silver hair ran up to me, a dark-haired child following him. 'Woah!' he said. 'That was the coolest thing I've ever seen! Can you show me how to do that?'" He laughed, sweet and clear as a bell.

'That sounds like a wonderful memory.'

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wondered what else I would find if I continued down these halls. A thousand memories around every corner, years and years of lives lived within these walls.

He stopped short before a door, suddenly apprehensive. "Hmm? Is everything all right?"

"This room.. We should turn back.”

“What is it?”

“It's just.. this is my room."

Oh. Oh. Well, this was kind of awkward. And I blurted out, "Well, we could go in there if you want."

"Are you sure?" I nodded. He pushed open the door.

The room was small, painted in pale green. There was a small bed, a little chair, and a bookcase stuffed with books, their titles long since worn away. But the window caught my attention, big and open, facing the garden. A cool breeze filled the room.

"I would sit here and read and listen to the magical creatures outside," he said, walking over to the window. "Sometimes they would come into the room and play with me."

"That sounds like so much fun!"

He gazed out the window, his back turned to me. "This castle used to be a place of such beauty," he said. "Gentle creatures that could be found nowhere else in the world. A place full of life and laughter. And then it.. became a living tomb.

“In my despair, I saw it as a weapon and destruction, something I could break apart and use against the humans who had wronged me. As angry as I was at Cordelia for destroying the ruins, I destroyed my own home, a place that had been so precious to us.

"And then hope became such a fragile thing, something that could be taken away from me in an instant. Even as I grew closer to you, I became afraid. Even someone so powerful could be taken from me in an instant.

"But now.. now I feel like I can see a new light. After so long of living in the dark, I feel like I can dream of a new future."

He turned to me, new determination in his eyes. "I've decided what I want now, Liz. One day, I want to revive the Dragonkin; I want to bring back the creatures that lived in this castle. Like with Lacan, I will find a peaceful way."

I wanted to stay by his side. I wanted to help him achieve his dream, no matter what. “I'll help you! I'll be there every step of the way!”

"Really? I mean, of course." But he smiled brilliantly. "Thank you."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warm light streamed into the room as I slowly cracked open my eyes. I saw Felix asleep on the pillow next to me.

'That's right.' We had stayed up all night, laughing and talking and sharing jokes, until we had both practically collapsed.

I gazed at his face; it was rare to see him sleeping, but he looked strangely.. peaceful, unburdened by all his worries. He looked sweet and innocent. I felt my heart racing at the sight.

  
  


'It's still amazing to think I get to wake up to this. That I get to wake up to the man I love..'

"Hmm?" His eyes cracked open. He smiled and leaned in, giving me a gentle kiss. "Good morning."

  
  


"Good morning."

He wrapped his arms around me. "I love you, Liz."

"I love you too."

I felt like I could stay in this moment forever, in the arms of the man that I loved.

And suddenly, I heard a beautiful voice, clear as crystal, from outside the window. "Do you hear that? It must be Shu singing.”

I slowly got up, peeking out the window. And my heart raced at the sight. "Felix, come look at this!"

"What is it?" His jaw dropped as he looked out the window.

Shu was standing in the garden, singing happily. But several small creatures were dancing around him, floating and giggling in the breeze.

"Wind cats!" Felix cried. "They're wind cats! I thought that they had gone extinct during the war, but they've come back to the castle!" He laughed sweetly. "I can't believe this!"

"I've never seen them before," I said, leaning out the window.

"Here, let's go see them! I'll tell you all about them!"

And the years would pass us by, working towards a new end, our new dream.

"And that is why a wind cat can fly on the breeze!"

The little children, Dragonkin and humans alike, gathered around me, staring in wonder at the windcats floating around my head.

"They're so pretty! Can I play with them?" The children danced around, chasing after the windcats.

"I see the lessons are going well." I looked over to see my beloved husband standing in the courtyard, smiling as we watched them. He wrapped his arms around me, giving me a peck on the lips. I don't think I'd ever get used to it, even all these years later.

"How are Willem and Lacan?"

"They're setting up for their own classes, I think. More students than ever to train this year.”

“Well, I'm done for the day,” I said. “While they're teaching, we could go for a walk.”

We walked through the garden together, hand in hand, laughing and sharing memories. Beloved friends called out to us as we walked by.

"I never thought I'd be able to have this," he said as we walked. "Living so long in the dark- I thought I would stay there forever. But thanks to you, I can live in the sun once more. I can never thank you enough."

"Of course, my dear."

He kissed me, soft and sweet. "I love you, Liz. Forever and always."

And I heard a lovely voice singing, one that still enchanted me all of these years later. "Listen! Shu is singing!"

And far below, in the distance, I could hear a voice joining in harmony- the song of the Dragon of Time.


End file.
